New York City is the city with the largest stateside Puerto Rican population, but Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comes in second with 140,000 Puerto Rican residents. That’s about 15% of the total population of the city, and 40% of the state’s Puerto Rican population.
The heart of Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community is a neighborhood that grew up after World War II. Pennsylvania is #4 among states for Puerto Rico population: 3.8% of Pennsylvania’s population hails from Puerto Rico or is of Puerto Rican descent.
Philadelphia has had a strong Puerto Rican community for a century. In the 1920s, Puerto Ricans came to Philadelphia to work in cigar factories and textile businesses, both industries with a presence in Puerto Rico as well. These skilled workers often lived in boarding houses provided for Spanish speaking men, but as they settled into the community, Puerto Rican entrepreneurs and families built Puerto Rican neighborhoods, including “El Bloque de Oro” or “The Golden Block.” This area became known as the Golden Center.
As in other parts of the Northeast, many of the earliest arrivals in Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico came as agricultural workers, but the universities were also a draw. Pennsylvania was also a popular destination for Puerto Ricans from New York who wanted to live in a less urban setting. Housing costs were lower and work in agriculture and food processing was plentiful. This resulted in pockets of Puerto Ricans settling in the Pennsylvania Dutch parts of the state. While they faced discrimination, the incomers from Puerto Rico appreciated the safer, more affordable living conditions in Pennsylvania.
Business, social, and political organizations developed, and Puerto Ricans became an integral part of political life in Philadelphia. Beginning in the 1960s, Puerto Ricans have been a force in the legislative and judicial branches of the city’s life.
Pennsylvania’s Puerto Rican voters
In the current presidential election year, many observers believe that Pennsylvania will be a particularly important swing state, and that Puerto Rican voters will be particularly important among Pennsylvania voters. It was Pennsylvania that put Joe Biden over the threshold for electoral votes in 2020, and some commentators consider Pennsylvania a top prize this year, too. It has the largest number of electoral votes among the swing states, and has a record of choosing the winner. “There is no question – Pennsylvania will play a pivotal role in deciding the presidency,” says ABC News. “It’s not hype, it’s history. Pennsylvanians voted for the eventual president in 10 out of the last 12 elections.” News outlets from U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg to CNN and The Villanovan agree.
Current polls show a very close race in the Keystone State, but Hispanic voters show a different pattern. Harris is ahead among Latino voters in Pennsylvania. Trump is courting the Puerto Rican vote in Pennsylvania, though, as indicated by his celebration of reggaeton musicians from the Island who endorsed him at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
As Axios put it, “Puerto Ricans have more political sway in U.S. than ever before.” Axios reports that recent polling shows that Puerto Rican voters in the states are concerned, like other voters, with the economy and climate change, but that they also want to bring attention to issues like food justice for Puerto Rico and the need for a binding referendum on the Island’s political status.
