A Community in Transition
Brazilian study indicates growth across state and nation

Mark Puleo

According to a recent study, the Brazilian community in Massachusetts has become an economic powerhouse in the region, contributing more $1 billion dollars in annual spending and $295 million in state and federal taxes. With so much media attention focused on immigration reform, the community has quietly become a true economic success story.

Two prominent members of the Brazilian community in Massachusetts recently announced findings of a major study on the demographic and economic profile of Brazilian immigration in the region. Alvaro Lima, the Director of Research for the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and Eduardo Siqueira, assistant professor in the Department of Community Health and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, released a study supported by the Mauricio Gastón Institute, Brazilians in the U.S. and Massachusetts: A Demographic and Economic Profile.

The report, which required almost one year of research to complete, paints a complex picture of the effects of Brazilian immigration on the region in the last decade – a period of remarkable growth for the community. While Brazilians may be the 28th largest immigrant group in the nation, they are currently the fifth largest in Massachusetts. Even these statistics mask their regional dominance: in Metro Boston, Brazilians now rank 3rd among all immigrant groups.

“We are seeing dramatic growth of the Brazilian community in areas outside of traditional immigrant centers,” Mr. Lima announced. Places like the Boston neighborhoods of Allston-Brighton, East Boston and nearby Cambridge are being replaced by Framingham and a number of smaller communities in Metro West and Cape Cod as significant concentrations of Brazilians. “Since 2002, these other places have offered more affordable housing and close proximity to the types of jobs in which most Brazilians are now engaged,” he continued.

The study indicates that the service industry and construction are two of the most prominent economic sectors in which Brazilians are employed. As these activities have shifted to the suburbs, immigrants have followed to live and raise families.

Mr. Lima also stressed the economic analysis performed in the study which used a sophisticated Regional Economic Model (REMI), developed from detailed county-level data the Federal government collects on economic activity and permit economic impact analyses of a specific region. In the case of Massachusetts, Mr. Lima was able to isolate the impact of Brazilians, “as workers; as consumers; and as business owners,” demonstrating their impact if removed from the economy.

According to the study, Brazilians contribute more than $1 billion to the regional product in their annual spending, and over $250 million in state and federal taxes, resulting in over 9,500 indirect jobs. Brazilian businesses – of which there are more than 1,000 in the state – account for annual sales of $272 million and provide 2,756 direct jobs and create an additional 1,756 jobs.

“For every five immigrants who leave Massachusetts,” Mr. Lima stated, “the state loses one job.”

Amidst the study’s findings, some recent media accounts have focused on a declining Brazilian population in Massachusetts. Mr. Lima agrees that while some Brazilians are leaving Massachusetts for a number of economic reasons, it is far too early to conclude if these anecdotal accounts represent a firm, statistical trend in migration back to Brazil. While some Brazilian immigrants have returned home, Mr. Lima doubts that the recent success of the Brazilian economy can absorb both domestic workers in Brazil and those returning from the United States.

“We are seeing remarkable growth of the Brazilian community in the United States where construction and service sector jobs are on the rise,” Mr. Lima declared. “New Orleans in particular is one such place where the construction market has exploded. Denver and Seattle are also other major centers that have seen growth in their Brazilian communities.”

As part of his research, Mr. Lima was able to assemble a detailed nationwide database of the Brazilian community, which has pinpointed many new hotspots of Brazilians outside of the traditional centers of Massachusetts, New York, Florida and New Jersey. And although immigration rates are lower than they were five years ago, many Brazilians continue to enter the United States and their numbers are bolstered by internal migration of Brazilians who are already living in the United States.