Ecuadorian Americans

History

Until the 1960s, very few Ecuadorians migrated to the United States. In the late 1960s, several waves of migration started. Most Ecuadorian immigration to the United States has occurred since the early 1970s. This emigration was because of several reasons: The first of them was that United States immigration law changed.

Before 1965, national quotas on immigrants favored more European immigration than Latin American immigration. After 1965, changes in immigration law made it easier for Latin Americans and other foreign groups to emigrate to United States. In addition, the price of air travel lowered making immigration more accessible to Latin Americans. They were drawn to the U.S. for economic opportunities and political freedoms.

Ecuadorian immigration peaked in the political turmoil of 1996-97 and national banking crisis of 1998-99. Another factor in Ecuadorian emigration was the 1964 Ecuadorian land reform. This improved the lives of many Ecuadorian poor, but also had far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. Many new small landowners were forced to sell their land. Many landowners abandoned their land and migrated to countries like Venezuela and the United States.

Most immigrants who live in the United States send money home. Many immigrants get American citizenship, others simply are legalized, while other groups live illegally, crossing the border from Mexico or entering by boat from Puerto Rico. Ecuadorian Americans come from every part of Ecuador. During the 1970s, most of the Ecuadorians came from the northern and central highlands, including the area around Quito.

In the 1980s, many Ecuadorians came from the coast. In the 1990s, most of them came from the southern highlands, near the border with Peru. The majority of Ecuadorian immigrants emigrate into New York City and its surrounding suburbs. The 1990 census recorded that 60 percent of Ecuadorians living in the United States live in the New York City Metropolitan Area; while another 10% live in Miami.

Demographics

Many Ecuadorians in the United States have settled in cities such as New York City (most residing in various areas of Queens, as well as in Bushwick, Brooklyn and Fordham, Bronx); Ossining, New York; Hudson, New York; Washington Heights, Manhattan; Danbury, Connecticut; Jersey City, New Jersey; Union City, New Jersey; Newark, New Jersey; Plainfield, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Orlando, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; and Cleveland, Ohio.

Queens County's percentage of Ecuadorians is about 4.7%, and it has the largest Ecuadorian community of any county in New York and in the United States, numbering just about 101,000 in 2010. Ecuadorians are the largest South American Latino group in New York City as well as in the State of New York.

Ecuadorians are the fourth largest Latino group in New York after Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans. Ecuadorians also constitute Queens County's largest Latino group. Another New York group of Ecuadorians live in the Bronx, in the Morris Heights and Highbridge neighborhoods north of Yankee Stadium. Still other Ecuadorian neighborhoods are situated in Brooklyn; in New Jersey cities such as Newark and Jersey City; and in towns in Connecticut.

States with highest Ecuadorian population

The 10 states with the largest Ecuadorian population were (Source: Census 2010):

1. New York - 228,216 (1.2% of state population)
2. New Jersey - 100,480 (1.1% of state population)
3. Florida - 60,574 (0.3% of state population)
4. California - 35,570 (0.1% of state population)
5. Connecticut - 23,677 (0.7% of state population)
6. Illinois - 22,816 (0.2% of state population)
7. Texas - 10,793 (less than 0.1% of state population)
8. Pennsylvania - 10,680 (0.1% of state population)
9. North Carolina - 8,110 (0.1% of state population)
10. Massachusetts - 7,592 (0.1% of state population)

The U.S. state with the smallest Ecuadorian population (as of 2010) was North Dakota with 55 Ecuadorians (less than 0.1% of state population).

US Metro areas with largest Ecuadorian population

The largest Ecuadorian populations are found within these areas (Source: Census 2010)

1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA - 316,243
2. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA - 37,029
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA - 23,118
4. Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI MSA - 22,445
5. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA - 13,335
6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA - 10,189
7. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA - 9,129
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA - 7,121
9. New Haven-Milford, CT MSA - 6,680
10. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA - 6,440
11. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA - 5,292
12. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA - 5,011
13. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA - 4,662
14. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC MSA - 4,590
15. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA - 4,287
16. Trenton-Ewing, NJ MSA - 4,264
17. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA - 3,944
18. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 3,004
19. Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY MSA - 2,957
20. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ MSA - 2,700

US communities with high percentages of people of Ecuadorian ancestry

The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Ecuadorian ancestry (as of the 2000 census, 2010 numbers in parenthesis) are:

1. Sleepy Hollow, New York 10.76% (17.54%)
2. Montauk, New York 8.08% (4.21%)
3. East Newark, New Jersey 7.87% (19.87%)
4. Ossining, New York 7.48% (19.31%)
5. Patchogue, New York 7.09%
6. Hightstown, New Jersey 6.31% (14.11%)
7. Union City, New Jersey 5.94% (9.23%)
8. North Plainfield, New Jersey 5.39%
9. Town of Ossining, New York 4.98% (19.31%)
10. Port Chester, New York 4.90% (9.58%)
11. Hackensack, New Jersey 4.78% (9.98%)
12. Springs, New York 4.46% (17.25%)
13. West New York, New Jersey 4.45%
14. Peekskill, New York 4.32%
15. North Bergen, New Jersey 4.02%
16. Harrison, New Jersey 3.90%
17. Guttenberg, New Jersey 3.88%
18. East Hampton, New York 3.81%
19. East Windsor, New Jersey 3.39%
20. Dover, New Jersey 3.37%
21. Rye, New York 3.18%
22. Belleville, New Jersey 3.06%
23. Danbury, Connecticut 2.92% (7.57%)
24. Guttenberg, New Jersey 2.9%
25. Weehawken, New Jersey 2.83%

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Ecuador

The top 25 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Ecuador are:

1. Sleepy Hollow, New York 10.4%
2. East Newark, New Jersey 10.3%
3. Ossining, New York 10.1%
4. Hightstown, New Jersey 9.5%
5. North Plainfield, New Jersey 7.8%
6. Montauk, New York 7.8%
7. Patchogue, New York 7.7%
8. Union City, New Jersey 7.5%
9. Wainscott, New York 6.4%
10. Peekskill, New York 5.9%
11. Springs, New York 5.4%
12. Hackensack, New Jersey 5.3%
13. West New York, New Jersey 5.2%
14. Port Chester, New York 4.8%
15. Queens, New York 4.7%
16. Dover, New Jersey 4.6%
17. Harrison, New Jersey 4.1%
18. Twin Rivers, New Jersey 4.0%
19. Belleville, New Jersey 3.8%
20. Danbury, Connecticut 3.7%
21. Newark, New Jersey 3.6%
22. Spring Valley, New York 3.5%
23. Tarrytown, New York 3.4%
24. Brewster, New York 3.1%
25. Guttenberg, New Jersey 2.9%

Notable Ecuadorian Americans