Community Profiles
Roxbury — Neighborhood Characteristics
Race & Language: 50% Black or African American, 23% Hispanic/Latino, 18% White, and 7% Asian. 63% of residents speak English at home, 21% speak Spanish, 4% speak French Creole (including Haitian Creole), and 3% speak Chinese.
Income: Roxbury’s median household income was more than $20,000 less than the Boston average in 2009 inflation-adjusted dollars $28,490 compared to $52,433). 38% of families in the population live below the poverty level.
Key Health Issues
- Have the highest rate of infant mortality rates (65%) than the overall Boston rate of 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births
- Roxbury also have the highest percentage of low birth weight (12.2%) during 2007-2009
- During 2007-2009, Roxbury had the highest rate of diabetes hospitalizations than all the neighborhoods we serve (2.7 per 1,000 hospitalizations).
- 29% of Roxbury residents were obvious during 2008 and 2009
- Had the highest rate of Chlamydia (1,566.4 new cases per 1000,000). The rate of gonorrhea was 236.5 per 100,000.The rate of syphilis was 31.7 per 100,000
- During 2007-2009, the incidence of tuberculosis was 13.5 per 100,000
- Roxbury had the highest rate of heart disease hospitalization than all of Boston (30.3 per 1,000 population from 2007-2009
- Have the fourth highest rate of substance abuse mortality than all the neighborhoods we serve (24.8) in 2008
Mattapan — Neighborhood Characteristics
Race & Language: 83% black, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 3% white. Mattapan has the largest Haitian population in all of Massachusetts. 68% of the population speaks English at home, 19% speak French and French Creole, 9% speak Spanish.
Income: The average median income is $44,376. In 2009, Mattapan had a great percentage of families living below the poverty level (23%) compared to the overall proportion in Boston.
Key Health Issues:
- The infant mortality rate is 5.8 per 1,000 live births
- The third highest rate of low birth weight (11.1%) than all of Boston, followed by Roxbury and Dorchester
- Have the second highest rate of preterm births (12%) from 2007-2009
- Of the communities we serve, Mattapan has the second lighest rate of diabetes hospitalization (1.9 per 1,000 population), followed by Roxbury.
- The rate of chlamydia rate was 1,251.1 per 100,000 compare to Boston's 751.8 new cases per 100,000 population; the gonorrhea rate was 197.7 per 100,000 compare the city's overall rate of 127.0 new cases per 100,000 population
- 38% of adult Mattapan residents are obese, the highest proportion in Boston
- 10% of Mattapan’s population have been diagnosed with diabetes, also the highest prevalence in Boston
- Mattapan had a disproportionately high rate of hospitalizations resulting from heart disease between 2007-2009
Hyde Park — Neighborhood Characteristics
Race & Language: 45% Black, 32% White, 18% Hispanic/Latino and 2% Asian. Hyde Park experienced a significant demographic shift between 2000 and 1990, when white residents made up 67% of the population. One third of Hyde Park residents speak Spanish or French Creole at home.
Income: Median income is $54,300 (in 2009 inflation-adjusted dollars). Approximately 10% live in poverty, lower than the citywide proportion.
Key Health Issues:
- 21% of adults consume the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, the lowest in the city
- Residents in this neighborhood have long been concerned with a lack of public transportation that makes it hard to get to a full service grocery store
- 2006-2008 data showed that 31% of adults in Hyde Park have high blood pressure
- Third highest rate of infant mortality (6.4 deahts per 1,000 live births) followed by Robury and Dorchester
- Third highest percentage of low birth weight (10.8%)
- During 2007-2009, Hyde Park has the second highest rate of preterm births (12%)
- 30% of Hyde Park adults are obese
Dorchester — Neighborhood Characteristics
Race & Language: Ethnically diverse with substantially populations of many ethnic groups. North Dorchester is 36% white, 24% black, 14% Hispanic/Latino, 13% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 6% multi-racial. South Dorchester is 42% black, 30% white, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 10% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 4.7% multi-racial. About a sixth of Dorchester residents speak Spanish at home.
Income: In 2009, 22% of North and 16% of South Dorchester residents were living below the poverty line.
Key Health Issues:
- Dorchester has one of the highest obesity rates of any neighborhood in Boston
- Only about 25% of Dorchester residents report feeling very safe in their neighborhood. This may well impact on people’s ability to carry out exercise in their neighborhood.
- In 2010, South Dorchester had one of the highest rates of Hepatitis C infection among Boston neighborhoods
East Boston — Neighborhood Characteristics
Race & Language:Race & Language: 44% white, 47% Hispanic/Latino, 3% Asian and 2% Black. This neighborhood has a large Latino population. Of all Boston neighborhoods, East Boston has the highest percentage of recent immigrants. Just over half (56%) of East Boston residents were born in the United States. East Boston residents have emigrated from many countries, including El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, Vietnam, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. About a third (34%) of East Boston residents speak a language other than English at home. Spanish is the primary language spoken by 46% of residents, while 5% speak Italian, 6% speak Portuguese/Portuguese Creole, and 2% speak Vietnamese.
Income: Based on 2009 data, 10% of families in East Boston had incomes below the poverty level, lower than the overall proportion in Boston (15%).
Key Health Issues:
- In a 2005 report, the Boston Public Health Commission identified the following as key health issues affecting East Boston: obesity, cancer, asthma, substance abuse, violence, maternal and child health
- In the period between 2006-2008, East Boston had a heroin/opioid mortality rate higher than the citywide rate
- Of the communities we serve, East Boston have the highest rate of substance abuse mortality (47.0 deaths per 100,000 population)
- Of all the communities the Family Van serves, East Boston have the highest incidence of syphilis (72.9 new cases per 100,000 population)
- Only 41% of adults in East Boston engage in regular physical activity, which is the lowest than all of Boston
- Of all the neighborhoods the Family Van serve, East Boston have the highest rate of syphillis (72.9 new cases per 100,000 population)
SOURCES:
Boston Public Health Commission
Boston Redevelopment Authority
