WOODSIDE

AT A GLANCE

Demographic Data and Tendencies

          W O O D S I D E

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

                                            Albert Einstein

Among the total of 88,500 people living in Woodside, 39% are native born, having different ancestries.  From the rest of 61% (foreign born), 36% are naturalized citizens, or in other words only 61% of Woodside population is a US citizen*.  The wave of immigration we could see between 1990 and 2000 brought to Woodside 27,500 new dwellers, or 30% of its current population, and a noticeable fact is that only 10% of them have been naturalized.  Latin America and Asia are the main sources of immigration (42%, respectively 47% of the 1990-2000 newcomers.) 

Racial distribution by comparison (data according to the 2000 Census)

Note: According to more recent statistics published by the US Bureau of Census for 2002, the Caucasian population of New York City, implicitly Queens, has decreased by approx. 2%, whether the Hispanic population of NYC has gone up by a similar percentage.

Considering the population 25 years and over, 28% did not complete high school or never passed 9^th grade, 28% are high school graduate, 15% have attended some college but have no degree, 5.4% have an associated degree, and 23% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, regardless of where it has been achieved.  It is known that many immigrants that have graduated in their countries of birth do not work in their old professions, and this is the case for many Woodside residents. 

In fact, the majority in Woodside is working class or do clerical work, and only few own small businesses. Woodside is a living example of what the designers of Queens Suburbs have thought of – an…almost affordable residential place for low income people (urban correction has been made to fit the goal - see Photo Gallery)

        Learn more about Ethnic America from

          GILDER LEHRMAN History Online