A researcher who has studied the demographics of the city of Reading said the Latino population is five times higher than it was 30 years ago.

That increase can be seen at the Hispanic Center located at N. 5th and Washington Streets in Reading.

Officials said their clientele is on the rise, and they even need interns from nearby colleges to keep up with the workload.

"A lot of people are coming from other states or they're coming from the homeland. So we have seen an increase," said Luis Alier, from the Hispanic Center.

Dr. Mark Reisinger, associate professor of geography at the University of Binghamton (SUNY), has been following Hispanic migration trends throughout Berks County for more than a decade.

At a lecture at Albright College he used recent Census data to show that the Hispanic population is Reading, alone, has increased by 500% over the past thirty years.

"The housing market had declined pretty dramatically, so there was an ability to purchase homes, a more tranquil environment to raise children and so forth, better educational opportunities," said Dr. Reisinger.

Dr.Reisinger's also pointed out that the Dominican population has actually seen the largest growth and that can be seen in the large amount of bodegas (Dominican corner stores) opening up throughout the region.

Dr. Reisinger also said the Latino migration could also be linked with Reading recently being named the city with the highest proportion of poverty nationwide.

"Latinos come to Reading with relatively low levels of education, so the opportunity to earn high wages is constrained," said Reisinger.

He added that a lack of fluent English could also be contributing to the trend.

"So again, that constrains them in the labor market," said Dr. Reisinger. "But we also have to look at the overall inequalities in society and discrimination and segregation and so forth."