The number of Hispanic residents grew in almost every Baltimore community over the last decade, even as the city lost thousands of Black and white residents, according to newly released census estimates.
Residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino went from roughly 4.5% of Baltimore’s population at the beginning of the last decade to 8% from 2020-24, a Banner analysis of census estimates collected during that period and released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows.
The biggest jumps were in two areas. One was neighborhoods lining the city’s edge west of the waterfront, including Brooklyn, Lakeland and Westport. The other was neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city east of the water, including Broening Manor and O’Donnell Heights.
That southeast section of Baltimore became majority-Hispanic for the first time, growing from 19% to 53% in the last decade.
The Hispanic population in this area, which includes neighborhoods such as Medford and Graceland Park, nearly quadrupled over the same period.
The numbers are “not surprising at all,” said Meghan McCorkell, director of the quasi-governmental organization Live Baltimore, which works to attract and retain residents.
In addition to downtown, which has seen strong population growth from thousands of new Black residents, the east side has had some of the biggest investments in new and renovated housing, McCorkell said.
Local leaders attribute the growth in the Spanish-speaking population in part to recent immigration trends as people arrive to reunite with family who settled in Baltimore previously. The city has also attracted newly arriving families seeking affordable homes.
Community organizations and city government have responded by investing in bilingual staff and Spanish-language program materials to assist with home buying and starting businesses, in hopes the new Baltimoreans will become legacy residents.
The government isn’t giving handouts or letting new immigrants live off the system, said Lucia Islas, a case manager for Spanish-speaking clients at the Southeast Community Development Corp. Rather, the city is helping open — and point people toward — pathways to self-sustainability.
“It’s not like this in every city or county. Here, there’s a lot of help,” said Islas, who is also a graduate of the New American Leadership Institute, an initiative of the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs that provides civic education to community leaders.
There’s a network of people and organizations to educate people on things such as tax preparation and how to use 311, Islas said. People learn how the city works, then pass the knowledge to their neighbors and networks, she added.
Another principal reason for the growth is that new arrivals and Spanish speakers generally feel safe here, she said.
At the start of the last decade, an estimated 1 in 10 residents of the areas encompassing the Westport and Lakeland neighborhoods and the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay communities identified as Hispanic or Latino. That number tripled over the last 10 years in both regions, according to the newly released data.
Brooklyn has had one of the highest volumes of home sales across Baltimore in recent years, McCorkell said. In Lakeland, homes have sold faster than nearly anywhere else in the city, she added.
Schools in Brooklyn and Curtis Bay are at or exceeding capacity, indicating that many of the incoming residents are part of families, said Meredith Chaiken, director of the Greater Baybrook Alliance, a community development organization that offers business and home-buying assistance in those neighborhoods.
“There’s a snowball effect. These communities are welcoming and then draw even more families, and we have strong networks within the immigrant community,” Chaiken said. “It makes it a good place for them to come, invest, buy homes and start businesses.”
In the neighborhoods west of the water, the increase in Hispanic residents is helping offset significant white and Black population loss.
In neighborhoods east of it, the jump is helping fuel explosive growth.
“This area is known as an area that’s historically welcoming, historically friendly to immigrants,” said Carla Paisley, director of the Southeast CDC, where Islas works as a case manager.
It was once a hub for new arrivals from Ukraine, Germany and Poland, Paisley said, and there’s now a healthy, diverse blend of Mexican, Central and South American businesses and residents.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Upper Fells Point and the Broadway corridor were considered the Spanish-speaking hub of the area. Reminders are still present today — a sign for “Spanish Town” pointing north on Broadway, where it intersects with Eastern Avenue, or entrenched restaurants serving Mexican, Dominican and Salvadoran food.
Affordability and a wider variety of housing stock have helped fuel the shift farther east, first into Highlandtown and then beyond, said Mark Parker, city councilman for the 1st district. But so have the community schools in the area that have “built trust in diverse communities” and served as “anchors for families.”
There has also been a generational turnover happening, he said, as older adults move out and create opportunity for young families to move in.
Restrictions on new migration during President Donald Trump’s second term, as well as increased immigration enforcement on undocumented individuals or people transitioning from temporary to permanent status, may stymie that growth. So, too, could a tightening of enforcement on the job market, Parker said, or individuals returning to their home countries because they no longer feel welcome in the U.S.
But many, like McCorkell of Live Baltimore, are optimistic about Charm City’s future. She cited ongoing private investment and city initiatives to renew vacant properties as signs of hope.
“Opportunity for growth exists all across the city,” she said. “It’s just about how we are investing ... and making sure those new and renovated houses are at the price point people are looking for.”
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