Massachusetts

===Race and ancestry===

[[File:St. Patrick Day's Parade, Scituate MA.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|[[Saint Patrick's Day]] parade in [[Scituate, Massachusetts|Scituate]], the municipality with the highest percentage identifying [[Irish diaspora|Irish]] ancestry in the United States, at 47.5% in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/news/the-most-irish-town-in-america-is-named-133427563-237789381.html|title=The most Irish town in America is named using US census data|first=Jane|last=Walsh|publisher=IrishCentral|date=November 25, 2015|access-date=May 8, 2016}}</ref> [[Irish Americans]] constitute the largest ethnicity in Massachusetts.]]
[[File:Ethnic Origins in Massachusetts.png|thumb|245x245px|Ethnic origins in Massachusetts]]
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"
|+ style="font-size:90%" |Ethnic composition as of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]
|-
! Race and Ethnicity<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/race-and-ethnicity-in-the-united-state-2010-and-2020-census.html |title=Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census
 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=August 12, 2021 |website=census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=September 26, 2021}}</ref>
! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Alone
! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total
|-
| [[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White (non-Hispanic)]]
|align=right| {{bartable|67.6|%|2||background:gray}}
|align=right| {{bartable|71.4|%|2||background:gray}}
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]]{{efn|Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin are not distinguished between total and partial ancestry.}}
|align=right| {{bartable}}
|align=right| {{bartable|12.6|%|2||background:green}}
|-
| [[African Americans|African American (non-Hispanic)]]
|align=right| {{bartable|6.5|%|2||background:mediumblue}}
|align=right| {{bartable|8.2|%|2||background:mediumblue}}
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]]
|align=right| {{bartable|7.2|%|2||background:purple}}
|align=right| {{bartable|8.2|%|2||background:purple}}
|-
| [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]
|align=right| {{bartable|0.1|%|2||background:gold}}
|align=right| {{bartable|0.9|%|2||background:gold}}
|-
| [[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]]
|align=right| {{bartable|0.02|%|2||background:pink}}
|align=right| {{bartable|0.1|%|2||background:pink}}
|-
| Other
|align=right| {{bartable|1.3|%|2||background:brown}}
|align=right| {{bartable|3.6|%|2||background:brown}}
|}
The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 95.4% in 1970 to 67.6% in 2020.<ref name=qcensus/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25000.html |title=Massachusetts QuickFacts |location=US |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821061951/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/25000.html |archive-date=August 21, 2015 }}</ref> As of 2011, non-Hispanic whites were involved in 63.6% of all the births,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html |title=Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot |last=Exner |first=Rich |date=June 3, 2012 |work=[[The Plain Dealer]]}}</ref> while 36.4% of the population of Massachusetts younger than age{{spaces}}1 was minorities (at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Exner|first1=Rich|title=Americans under age 1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot|url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html |website=The Plain Dealer|date=June 3, 2012|publisher=Advance Ohio|access-date=August 2, 2016|ref=June 3, 2012}}</ref> One major reason for this is that non-Hispanic whites in Massachusetts recorded a [[total fertility rate]] of 1.36 in 2017, the second-lowest in the country after neighboring Rhode Island.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_01-508.pdf |title=CDC data |publisher=Centres for Disease Control and Prevention |access-date=May 13, 2020}}</ref>

As late as 1795, the population of Massachusetts was nearly 95% of English ancestry.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=173}} During the early and mid-19th century, immigrant groups began arriving in Massachusetts in large numbers; first from Ireland in the 1840s;{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=173–79}} today the Irish and part-Irish are the largest ancestry group in the state at nearly 25% of the total population. Others arrived later from Quebec as well as places in Europe such as Italy, Portugal, and Poland.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=203}} In the early 20th century, a number of{{vague|date=March 2019}} [[Great Migration (African American)|African Americans migrated to Massachusetts]], although in somewhat fewer numbers than many other Northern states.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|p=301}} Later in the 20th century, immigration from Latin America increased considerably. More than 156,000 [[Chinese Americans in Boston|Chinese Americans]] made their home in Massachusetts in 2014,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/S0201/0400000US25/popgroup~016|title=Selected Population Profile in the United States – 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates—Chinese alone, Massachusetts|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214001946/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_1YR/S0201/0400000US25/popgroup~016|archive-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> and Boston hosts a growing [[Chinatown, Boston|Chinatown]] accommodating heavily traveled [[Chinatown bus lines|Chinese-owned bus lines]] to and from [[Chinatown, Manhattan]] in [[New York City]]. Massachusetts also has large [[Dominican American|Dominican]], [[Puerto Rican American|Puerto Rican]], [[Haitian Americans|Haitian]], [[Cape Verdean American|Cape Verdean]] and [[Brazilian American|Brazilian]] populations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hispanic or Latino by Type: 2010 Census Summary File 1: Massachusetts (QT-P10) |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/QTP10/0400000US25 |work=American Factfinder |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=March 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213010024/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/QTP10/0400000US25 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Boston's [[South End, Boston|South End]] and [[Jamaica Plain]] are both [[gay village]]s, as is nearby [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]] on Cape Cod.<ref>{{cite news |title=Same-Sex Couples Since 1990 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/25/us/same-sex-couples-since-1990.html?ref=us |access-date=December 4, 2022 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
[[File:Boston Chinatown Paifang.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|[[Chinatown, Boston|Boston's Chinatown]], with its [[paifang]] gate, is home to many [[Chinese Americans in Boston|Chinese]] and also [[Vietnamese Americans in Boston|Vietnamese]] restaurants.]]
[[File:Party_goers_and_dancers_at_Back_Bay_Block_Party.jpg|thumb|Boston [[gay pride]] march, held annually in June. In 2004 Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize [[same-sex marriage in Massachusetts|same-sex marriage]].]]
The largest ancestry group in Massachusetts are the [[Irish Americans|Irish]] (22.5% of the population), who live in significant numbers throughout the state but form more than 40% of the population along the South Shore in Norfolk and Plymouth counties (in both counties overall, Irish-Americans comprise more than 30% of the population). [[Italian Americans|Italians]] form the second-largest ethnic group in the state (13.5%), but form a plurality in some suburbs north of Boston and in a few towns in the Berkshires. [[English Americans]], the third-largest (11.4%) group, form a plurality in some western towns. [[French Americans|French]] and [[French Canadian]]s also form a significant part (10.7%),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=People Reporting Ancestry – 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref> with sizable populations in Bristol, Hampden, and Worcester Counties, along with Middlesex county especially concentrated in the areas surrounding Lowell and Lawrence.<ref name=citydata2000>{{cite web |title=Massachusetts—Ethnic groups |url=http://www.city-data.com/states/Massachusetts-Ethnic-groups.html |publisher=City-Data.com |access-date=April 26, 2015}}</ref><ref>For Bristol County see {{cite web
 |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25005
 |title=DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States—2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
 |access-date=January 12, 2016
|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213025726/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25005
 |archive-date=February 13, 2020
}}
:* For Hampden County see {{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25013 |title=DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States—2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates |access-date=January 12, 2016 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213010213/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25013 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 }}
:* For Worcester County see {{cite web
 |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25027
 |title=DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States—2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
 |access-date=January 12, 2016
|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213020310/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US25027
 |archive-date=February 13, 2020
}}</ref> <!-- missing information of Massachusetts residents of Portuguese ancestry, including possible temporary sources here <ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSSPP1Y2022.S0201?q=population%20of%20portuguese%20americans&g=040XX00US25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSSPP1Y2016.S0201?q=portuguese%20population%20in%20massachusetts%202016}}</ref> --> [[Lowell, Massachusetts|Lowell]] is home to the second-largest [[Cambodian Americans|Cambodian]] community of the nation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schweitzer |first=Sarah |title=Lowell hopes to put 'Little Cambodia' on the map |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/15/lowell_hopes_to_put_little_cambodia_on_the_map/ |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=February 15, 2010 |access-date=May 31, 2010}}</ref> Massachusetts is home to a small community of [[Greek Americans]] as well, which according to the [[American Community Survey]] there are 83,701 of them scattered along the state (1.2% of the total state population).<ref>{{cite web |title=2011–2015 American Community Survey Selected Population Tables |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=August 10, 2018}}</ref> There are also [[List of American Indian Reservations in Massachusetts|several populations]] of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] in Massachusetts. The [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]] tribe maintains reservations at [[Aquinnah, Massachusetts|Aquinnah]] on Martha's Vineyard and at [[Mashpee, Massachusetts|Mashpee]] on Cape Cod—with an ongoing [[Massachusett language|native language revival project underway]] since 1993, while the [[Nipmuc]] maintain two state-recognized reservations in the central part of the state, including one at [[Grafton, Massachusetts|Grafton]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Indian Reservations in the Continental United States |url=http://www.nps.gov/nagpra/DOCUMENTS/ResMAP.HTM |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=May 7, 2015}}</ref>

Massachusetts has avoided many forms of racial strife seen elsewhere in the US, but examples such as the successful electoral showings of the [[Nativism (politics)|nativist]] (mainly [[Anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]]) [[Know Nothing]]s in the 1850s,{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=180–82}} the controversial [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] executions in the 1920s,{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=257–58}} and Boston's opposition to [[Boston busing desegregation|desegregation busing]] in the 1970s.{{sfn|Brown|Tager|2000|pp=300–4}}