Grand Rapids is in the fortunate position of

becoming home to a growing community of recently arrived

immigrants and refugees. Statistics help to tell the story:

• More than 10 percent of the city’s population –

nearly 21,000 people – were born outside the United States.

• Sixty-two percent of these newcomers –

13,300 people – arrived in the U.S. since 1990.

• One in six residents of the city of Grand Rapids

aged five or older speaks a language other than

English at home.

• Six thousand students in the Grand Rapids

public schools speak English a second language.

Similar patterns can be seen in Kent County

and the Grand Rapids-Holland-Muskegon area

(see "The Numbers: Grand Rapids Residents

Born Outside the U.S.," page 32).

The significance of Grand Rapids’ growing

immigrant populations is reflected in citations in

two recent studies, one focusing on immigrants

in the Midwest and the other on Latino population

growth in the U.S.

• Grand Rapids is one of many Midwestern cities

"not typically associated with immigration"

[because they are not the traditional "gateway"

cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami,

and Chicago] which have seen significant

growth in immigrant populations, according to

Is Revitalizing America’s Midwest. Prepared by

the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee

Rights, the report indicates that in more than

one third of Midwestern counties, immigration

represents 75+ percent of overall population

growth – or population growth in areas where

the overall population declined (Paral, page ii).

Census statistics confirm that without the influx

of immigrants in the past decade the population

of Grand Rapids would have declined.

• The Grand Rapids metropolitan area is one

of 50 "new Latino destinations" – metropolitan

areas characterized by explosive growth in

the Latino community – in the U.S., according

to Latino Growth in Metropolitan America:

Changing Patterns, New Locations, a recent

Brookings Institution study. The report indicates

that the Latino population in the central city

of Grand Rapids tripled between 1990 and 2000

(Suro, page 15).

While Latinos account for the largest percentage

of recently-arrived immigrants and refugees in

Grand Rapids, the newcomers arrive here from

many areas of the world: 60 percent from Latin

America; 16 percent from Europe; 15 percent

from Asia; and the remainder from the Caribbean,

Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of the

More than 10 percent

of the city’s population –

nearly 21,000 people –

were born outside the

United States.

Sixty-two percent of

these newcomers – 13,300

people – arrived in the

U.S. since 1990.

One in six residents of

the city of Grand Rapids

aged five or older speaks

a language other than

English at home.

Six thousand students

in the Grand Rapids public

schools speak English

as a second language.