Data in the “First Comprehensive Cooperation and Development Agenda of the Dominican Diaspora,” prepared by Dominican-American Congressman Adriano Espaillat, and delivered to President Abinader during his visit to New York in September 2021, indicates there is a population of 2,081,419 Dominicans in the United States.
The report highlights that Dominicans live mostly on the eastern coast of the USA – New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and Georgia.
“The Dominican diaspora, especially those living in the United States, represents the largest reserve of the Dominican Republic’s intellectual, economic, and socio-political heritage. This human capital has not yet been valued and rarely referenced or taken into account,” highlights the Espaillat study on the Dominican diaspora.
The report focuses on the potential for the Dominican Republic of developing more linkages with the Dominican diaspora. The report mentions that Dominicans abroad sent home US$8.22 billion in remittances in 2020. This was a 16% increase over the total in pre-pandemic year 2019. The upward trend has continued in 2021. The report highlights that Dominicans abroad have annual incomes of more than US$54 billion and keep around US$3 billion in bank savings alone.
The report highlights that around 87% of Dominicans living in the US do so in seven US states. Of the more than two million Dominicans living in the US, 44% were born in the Dominican Republic (918,851) and 56% in the United States (1,162,586). He said this population is eligible for Dominican citizenship by birthright.
Espaillat estimates there are a potential of 900,000 Dominicans that could be registered to vote in Dominican elections. This number of voters could decide any local election. Nevertheless, of these only 530,000 have been registered to vote.
Diario Libre reports on the breakdown of where Dominicans live:
New York
New York is home to 866,948 Dominicans, for 40.5% of the total population of Dominicans residing in the US.
New Jersey
The Garden State is in second place with 339,624, for 15.2% of the total number of Dominicans residing in the USA.
Florida
Florida has a population of 261,662 Dominicans, for 12.2% of the total number of Dominicans residing in the USA.
Massachusetts
Around 155,669 Dominicans reside in Boston and environs, for 7.3 %.
Pennsylvania
The state of Pennsylvania is home to 136,608, for 6.4% of the total number of Dominicans residing in the US.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island is home to 58,112 Dominicans, or 2.7%.
Connecticut
49,378 Dominicans reside in this state, for 2.3%.
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7 October 2021