Mexican Immigrants in the United States
A float decorated with Mexican national colors in a parade in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo: Christine_Kohler/iStock.com)
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Mexicans are the largest group of immigrants in the United States, accounting for about 23 percent of all 47.8 million foreign-born residents as of 2023. The population shrank by more than 1 million people from its peak of 11.7 million in 2010 to 10.7 million in 2022 but has started growing again. As of 2023, 10.9 million U.S. residents were immigrants from Mexico.
The United States remains by far the most popular destination for Mexican migrants worldwide. And Mexicans are the largest group of new U.S. green-card holders and naturalized citizens. Yet between 2005 and 2014, the number of Mexicans leaving the United States outpaced the number of new arrivals, according to Pew Research Center estimates. The trend was due to several factors, including the global financial crisis in 2008-09, the strengthening Mexican economy, and increasing U.S. immigration enforcement. From 2013 to 2021, India and China overtook Mexico as the top origin countries of new immigrants. The small recent uptick in the Mexican immigrant population as of 2023 may be partly attributed to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including economic shocks in Mexico.
Reflecting their large presence among the overall immigrant population in the United States, Mexicans also represent the largest group of unauthorized immigrants, accounting for 45 percent of the 11.3 million people without legal status as of mid-2022, according to Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates. However, the number of unauthorized Mexican immigrants has similarly been falling for more than 15 years, and MPI estimates it has declined by 34 percent since 2007, from 7.7 million people to 5.1 million in 2022. Moreover, the Mexican share of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border irregularly has shrunk, down from 90 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2003 to 64 percent in FY 2013 and 29 percent in FY 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
Close to 60 percent of Mexican immigrants live in either California or Texas. Unlike the overall foreign-born population, most Mexican immigrants are not U.S. citizens, although they tend to have lived in the United States for longer. Those who obtained a green card in FY 2023 are more likely than immigrants overall to have done so via family sponsorship. Compared to both the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations, Mexican immigrants have lower levels of educational attainment and smaller household incomes but are more likely to be in the labor force.
This Spotlight provides information on the Mexican immigrant population in the United States, focusing on its size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.
Click on the bullet points below for more information:
- Size of Immigrant Population over Time
- Distribution by State and Key Cities
- English Proficiency
- Age, Education, and Employment
- Income and Poverty
- Immigration Pathways and Naturalization
- Unauthorized Immigrant Population
- Health Coverage
- Diaspora
- Top Global Destinations
- Remittances
Size of Immigrant Population over Time
The Mexican immigrant population grew steadily up to 2010, roughly doubling in the 1980s and 1990s and reaching a peak of more than 11.7 million people in 2010. After a steady decline in the 2010-22 period, there was an uptick in 2023, when the number of Mexican immigrants returned to the pre-pandemic level of about 10.9 million (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Immigrant Population from Mexico in the United States, 1980-2023
Source: Data from U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 and 2023 American Community Surveys (ACS), and Campbell J. Gibson and Kay Jung, "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850-2000" (Working Paper no. 81, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2006), available online.
Click here for an interactive chart showing the size and share of the Mexican immigrant population since 1850.
Distribution by State and Key Cities
More than half of all Mexican immigrants in the United States resided in California (36 percent) or Texas (22 percent) as of the 2018-22 period. One-tenth resided in Illinois (slightly less than 6 percent) or Arizona (slightly less than 5 percent). Six additional states—Florida, Washington, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and New York—were home to a combined additional 13 percent. The top three counties of residence, collectively home to 19 percent of all Mexican immigrants, were Los Angeles County, California; Harris County, Texas; and Cook County, Illinois.
Figure 2. Top States of Residence for Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2018-22
Notes: Pooled 2018–22 ACS data were used to get statistically valid estimates at the state level for smaller-population geographies. Not shown is the population in Alaska, which is small in size. For details, visit the Migration Policy Institute’s (MPI) Migration Data Hub for an interactive map showing the geographic distribution of immigrants by state and county, available online.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's pooled 2018-22 ACS.
Click here for an interactive map that highlights the states and counties with the highest concentrations of immigrants from Mexico or another country.
Five cities were home to more than one-third of all Mexican immigrants in the nation: the greater Los Angeles (14 percent), Chicago (6 percent), and Houston, Dallas, and Riverside (about 5 percent each) metro areas. More than one in ten residents of the greater Los Angeles and Riverside areas were born in Mexico, as was one-quarter of the population in the greater McAllen, Texas area (see Table 1).
Figure 3. Top Metropolitan Destinations for Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2018-22
Notes: Pooled 2018–22 ACS data were used to get statistically valid estimates at the metropolitan statistical-area level for smaller-population geographies. Not shown are the populations in Alaska or Hawaii. For details, visit MPI’s Migration Data Hub for an interactive map showing geographic distribution of immigrants by metro area, available online.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from U.S. Census Bureau pooled 2018–22 ACS.
Click here for an interactive map that highlights the metro areas with the most immigrants from Mexico or another country.
Table 1. Top U.S. Metropolitan Areas of Residence for Mexican Immigrants, 2018-22
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau pooled 2018-22 ACS.
Mexican immigrants are less likely to be proficient in English than the overall U.S. foreign-born population. In 2023, about 65 percent of Mexican immigrants ages 5 and over reported speaking English less than “very well,” compared to 47 percent of all immigrants. Approximately 6 percent of Mexicans spoke only English at home, compared to 17 percent of the total foreign-born population.
Age, Education, and Employment
In 2023, the Mexican immigrant population had the same median age as the overall foreign-born population (47 years old), which was older than the U.S.-born population (37). Mexican immigrants were more likely than the native- and overall foreign-born populations to be of working age (18 to 64; see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Age Distribution of the U.S. Population by Origin, 2023
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 as they are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 ACS.
Mexican adults have lower rates of educational attainment than both the native- and overall foreign-born populations. In 2023, approximately 50 percent of Mexican immigrants ages 25 and older lacked a high school diploma or equivalent, compared to 25 percent of all foreign-born adults and 7 percent of U.S.-born adults. About 9 percent of Mexican immigrants reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 35 percent of immigrant and 36 percent of U.S.-born adults.
Figure 5. Educational Attainment of the U.S. Population (ages 25 and older), by Origin, 2023
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 as they are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2023 ACS.
Click here for data on immigrants’ educational attainment by country of origin and overall.
According to the Institute of International Education, about 15,000 international students from Mexico were enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions in the 2022-23 school year, a relatively small share of all 1.1 million international students in the United States. Mexico ranked 12th among sending countries for international students and was the second largest country of origin from Latin America and the Caribbean (after Brazil), representing approximately 18 percent of the 82,000 students from the region in the United States.
Like immigrant adults overall, those born in Mexico participate in the labor force at higher rates than U.S. natives. About 68 percent of Mexican immigrants ages 16 and older were in the civilian labor force in 2023, compared to 67 percent of all foreign born and 63 percent of the U.S.-born population. Compared to those two groups, Mexicans were more likely to be employed in the service; natural resources, construction, and maintenance; and production, transportation, and material moving occupations (see Figure 6).
Figure 6. Employed Workers in the Civilian Labor Force (ages 16 and older), by Occupation and Origin, 2023
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 as they are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 ACS.
On average, Mexicans have lower incomes than the overall foreign- and native-born populations. In 2023, households headed by a Mexican immigrant had a median annual income of $64,500, lower than the $77,600 for U.S.-born households and $78,700 for all immigrant households.
In 2023, Mexican immigrants were more likely to be in poverty (16 percent) than immigrants overall (14 percent) or the U.S. born (12 percent). (The U.S. Census Bureau defines poverty as having an income below $30,900 for a family of four in 2023.)
Immigration Pathways and Naturalization
Mexicans are much less likely to be naturalized U.S. citizens than the overall immigrant population. In 2023, 34 percent of Mexican immigrants were U.S. citizens, compared to 52 percent of all immigrants. Still, they were the largest group to naturalize in FY 2023 (ahead of immigrants from India and the Philippines, the second and third largest countries of origin for new citizens), accounting for 13 percent of the 878,500 immigrants receiving U.S. citizenship that year. Similar to immigrants from Canada, Mexicans spent the longest median amount of time as lawful permanent residents (LPRs, also known as green-card holders) before naturalization: about 10.4 years.
Compared to all immigrants, Mexicans are more likely to have arrived in the United States before 2010, with 53 percent arriving prior to 2000. And 21 percent have arrived since 2010, compared to 35 percent for the overall immigrant population (see Figure 7).
Figure 7. Mexican and All Immigrants in the United States, by Period of Arrival, 2023
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 as they are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 ACS.
In FY 2023, Mexico was the top country of origin for new green-card holders; approximately 180,500 Mexicans received lawful permanent residence, comprising 15 percent of the 1.2 million new LPRs. That was more than the next two countries of origin (Cuba and India) combined.
Eighty-five percent of Mexicans who received a green card in FY 2023 did so either as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen or green-card holder or as another family member of a citizen, a much higher share than the 64 percent of all new LPRs (see Figure 8).
Figure 8. Immigration Pathways of Mexican and All Lawful Permanent Residents in the United States, FY 2023
Notes: Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens: Includes spouses, minor children, and parents of U.S. citizens. Family-Sponsored Preferences: Includes adult children and siblings of U.S. citizens as well as spouses and children of green-card holders. The Diversity Visa lottery was established by the Immigration Act of 1990 to allow entry to immigrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The law states that 55,000 diversity visas in total are made available each fiscal year. Individuals born in Mexico were not eligible for the 2025 lottery. Percentages may not add up to 100 as they are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), “Table 10: Persons Obtaining Lawful Permanent Resident Status by Broad Class of Admission and Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal Year 2023,” updated September 16, 2024, available online.
Unauthorized Immigrant Population
MPI estimates that approximately 5.1 million (45 percent) of the 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States as of mid-2022 were from Mexico. Although the size of the overall unauthorized population has been growing in recent years, the number of those born in Mexico has declined for more than 15 years. In 2007, Mexicans accounted for 64 percent of the total unauthorized immigrant population.
Click here for an overview of the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States as of mid-2022.
Mexican immigrants are by far the largest group participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary deportation relief and work authorization to unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children and meet education and other eligibility criteria. As of June 2024, about 433,800 unauthorized immigrants from Mexico held DACA status, representing 81 percent of the 535,000 DACA participants.
Click here to view the top origin countries of DACA recipients and their U.S. states of residence.
Mexicans have low health insurance coverage rates compared to all immigrants and the U.S. born. In 2023, 34 percent of immigrants from Mexico were uninsured, compared to 18 percent of the entire foreign-born population and 6 percent of the U.S. born (see Figure 9).
Figure 9. Health Coverage for Mexican Immigrants, All Immigrants, and the U.S. Born, 2023
Note: The sum of shares by type of insurance is likely to be greater than 100 because people may have more than one type of insurance.
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 ACS.
The Mexican diaspora is comprised of approximately 38.8 million U.S. residents who were either born in Mexico or reported Mexican ancestry or origin, according to MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey. The Mexican diaspora is the second largest in the country, after the German diaspora.
Click here to see estimates of the largest diaspora groups in the United States in 2022.
The United States is overwhelmingly the most popular destination for Mexicans living abroad, accounting for 97 percent of all Mexican emigrants, according to 2020 United Nations Population Division (UNPD) estimates. In fact, 8 percent of all people born in Mexico lived in the United States as of 2020. Canada was home to the next largest population of Mexicans (87,000), followed by Spain (61,000), Germany (20,000), and Guatemala (19,000) as of the more recent UNPD estimates.
Click here to view an interactive map showing where migrants from Mexico and other countries have settled worldwide.
More than $66.2 billion in remittances was sent to Mexico by individuals using formal channels in 2023, according to the World Bank, the vast majority from the United States. Remittances have grown rapidly since the Great Recession in 2007-09, especially during the pandemic. Global remittances represented just under 4 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.
Figure 10. Annual Remittance Flows to Mexico, 2000-23
Source: MPI tabulation of data from the World Bank Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), “Remittance Inflows,” June 2024 update, available online.
Click here to view an interactive chart showing annual remittances received and sent by Mexico and other countries.
Sources
Alba, Francisco. 2024. Mexico at a Crossroads Once More: Emigration Levels Off as Transit Migration and Immigration Rise. Migration Information Source, May 23, 2024. Available online.
Gibson, Campbell J. and Kay Jung. 2006. Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850-2000. Working Paper no. 81, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2006. Available online.
Gonzalez-Barrera, Ana. 2015. More Mexicans Leaving than Coming to the U.S. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Available online.
---. 2021. Before COVID-19, More Mexicans Came to the U.S. than Left for Mexico for the First Time in Years. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Available online.
Institute of International Education (IIE). 2023. International Students: All Places of Origin. Available online.
Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD)/World Bank Group. 2024. Annual Remittances Data. June 2024 update. Available online.
Marrow, Brandon and Jeanne Batalova. 2024. Naturalized Citizens in the United States. Migration Information Source, July 10, 2024. Available online.
Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Migration Data Hub. N.d. U.S. Immigrant Population by State and County. Accessed September 2, 2024. Available online.
Ruiz Soto, Ariel G., Julia Gelatt, and Jennifer Van Hook. 2024. Diverse Flows Drive Increase in U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population. MPI commentary, July 2024. Available online.
United Nations Population Division. N.d. International Migrant Stock by Destination and Origin. Accessed September 28, 2022. Available online.
U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 2022 American Community Survey. Access from Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Matthew Sobek, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Renae Rodgers, and Megan Schouweiler. IPUMS USA: Version 15.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2024. Available online.
---. N.d. 2023 American Community Survey—Advanced Search: S0201 Selected Population Profile in the United States. Accessed September 30, 2024. Available online.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 2024. Count of Active DACA Recipients by Month of Current DACA Expiration as of June 30, 2024. Updated September 2024. Available online.
---. 2024. Naturalization Statistics. Updated May 9, 2024. Available online.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS). 2024. 2023 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Washington, DC: DHS, OHSS. Available online.