Boston foreign-born population grows; Haitians third on list

The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s 2015 report on Boston by the Numbers paints a picture of a rapidly growing city, diverse in age, race, and origin.

Boston’s foreign-born population grew 19.2 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to the report. The 2014 population of 177,461 foreign-born comprises 27.1 percent of the city’s population, which gives Boston the seventh highest share of foreign-born residents among the 25 largest U.S. cities.

Haitian residents are the third most populous foreign-born demographic, making up 7.6 percent of the city’s foreign-born residents.

On the language front, French or French Creole is the third most common non-English language spoken at home, at 4.2 percent. It is about level with Chinese (4.6 percent), but both are dwarfed by the 16.3 percent of the city speaking Spanish at home.

Among the neighborhoods with the highest proportion of foreign-born residents are Hyde Park (27.7 percent), Dorchester (32 percent), and Mattapan (35.9 percent).