Sociodemographic Reproduction of Portuguese Immigrants and There Descendants in the United States: A Consolidated Community with a Longstanding Tradition
Abstract
Although Portuguese immigration to the United States has a long history, there is limited knowledge about its socio-demographic reproduction in the 21st century. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing a current overview of people born in Portugal or of Portuguese descent and living in the United States. We use five-year micro data from the American Community Survey, covering 2006 to 2022, to 1) explore the migration process of Portuguese immigrants and the size and composition of the Portuguese population in the United States; 2) examine the spatial distribution of Portuguese immigrants and their descendants in different states in the United States; 3) to explore the socio-demographic profile of Portuguese immigrants and their descendants and how it is evolving over the last decades. The results reveal that Portuguese immigrants and descendants have successfully reproduced socio-demographically for a century and form a vibrant community of Portuguese origin in different parts of the United States. Overall, they outperform other U.S. residents on several socioeconomic indicators, although there are significant differences between them.
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