E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
U.S. Data

U.S. Data

U.S. Immigrant Population Spotlights
Immigration_History

More than 43 million people living in the United States—whether as naturalized citizen, legal permanent resident, temporary resident, or unauthorized immigrant—were born in another country, representing 13 percent of the U.S. population. Immigration has ebbed and flowed throughout U.S. history, peaking at nearly 15 percent of the population in 1890 and plummeting to 5 percent in 1970. The data-rich research offered here traces the U.S. immigrant population by size, educational and workforce characteristics, English language proficiency, and more.

For information on U.S. immigrants by state, check out the State Immigration Data Profiles tool. And for detailed profiles on unauthorized immigrants nationally and by state, visit this tool.

Recent Activity

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Articles
October 1, 2015
Green-Card Holders and Legal Immigration to the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
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Articles
September 2, 2015
Central American Immigrants in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
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Reports
September 2015
Migrants Deported from the United States and Mexico to the Northern Triangle: A Statistical and Socioeconomic Profile
By  Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas and Victoria Rietig
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Multimedia
August 19, 2015
The Unauthorized Population in the United States: New Data Trends
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Reports
August 2015
An Analysis of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States by Country and Region of Birth
By  Marc R. Rosenblum and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
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Articles
August 13, 2015
Origin and Community: Asian and Latin American Unauthorized Youth and U.S. Deportation Relief
By Sylvia Rusin
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Policy Briefs
August 2015
DACA at the Three-Year Mark: High Pace of Renewals, But Processing Difficulties Evident
By  Angelo Mathay and Margie McHugh
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Articles
July 21, 2015
Filipino Immigrants in the United States
By Keith McNamara and Jeanne Batalova

Pages

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Spotlight
March 20, 2015
Immigrant Women in the United States in 2013

Immigrant women constitute a varied and dynamic population in the United States with 51 percent or 21.2 million of the country's total foreign-born population. Examining key gender-based socioeconomic indicators from origin and fertility to educational attainment and immigration status, this Spotlight raises implications for sending and receiving countries, with respect to labor opportunities, family structure, gender roles, and more.

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Spotlight
February 26, 2015
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

An estimated 41.3 million immigrants lived in the United States in 2013, about 13 percent of the total U.S. population, constituting the world's largest foreign-born population. This Spotlight from MPI's Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova offers the most current and sought-after data on immigrants in the United States—including origin, educational attainment, the unauthorized, deportations, and more—in one easy-to-use resource.

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Spotlight
January 28, 2015
Chinese Immigrants in the United States

With the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943 and normalization of U.S.-China relations in the late 1970s, Chinese immigration to the United States has steadily increased, to a population of more than 2 million. Using the latest data, this Spotlight highlights characteristics of Chinese immigrants from mainland China and Hong Kong, including their top state and metro areas of residence, immigration pathways, educational attainment, and more.

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Spotlight
December 3, 2014
Korean Immigrants in the United States

Migration to the United States from the Korean peninsula, largely from South Korea, owes its roots to political, military, and economic factors, with an estimated 1.1 million Korean immigrants in the United States as of 2013. Korean migration to the United States has stalled in recent years, and even declined, with a small but growing number of immigrants and their U.S.-born children returning to Korea, as this article explores.

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Spotlight
October 30, 2014
Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States

From 1980 to 2013, the sub-Saharan African immigrant population in the United States increased from 130,000 to 1.5 million, roughly doubling each decade between 1980 and 2010. This profile provides up-to-date demographic information for sub-Saharan immigrants including location, educational attainment, workforce participation, and much more.

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Recent Activity

Fact Sheets
October 2023

Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools

A significant increase in the number of immigrant children in U.S. schools over the last decade has challenged K-12 educators to expand their capacity to serve students with different backgrounds and educational needs. This fact sheet sketches a profile of recently arrived immigrant children, presenting data on top states of residence, national origins, household characteristics, and more.

Articles
October 11, 2023

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

The more than 1.3 million Vietnamese immigrants in the United States are the result of nearly 50 years of migration that began with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. While early generations of Vietnamese immigrants tended to arrive as refugees, the vast majority of recent green-card holders obtained their status through family reunification channels. This article takes a look at the sixth-largest U.S. immigrant population.

Policy Briefs
October 2023

Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants

Immigrants make significant contributions to the U.S. economy and social fabric, but many also face barriers to integration. Adult education and workforce development programs offer services intended to help address such challenges yet can be mismatched to immigrants' needs. This issue brief sketches a profile of U.S.-born and immigrant adults, highlighting key similarities and differences relevant to the design of adult skills programs.

Policy Briefs
October 2023

Shared Gains: Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Colleges

U.S. colleges and universities have seen enrollment fluctuate over the last 20 years, shaped by demographic and economic changes in the United States and shifting views of the value of higher education. This issue brief explores how enrollment trends have played out for immigrants, the children of immigrants, and U.S.-born individuals with U.S.-born parents.

Articles
September 21, 2023

Inmigrantes cubanos en los Estados Unidos

Los cubanos constituyen el mayor grupo de inmigrantes caribeños en Estados Unidos. La población está creciendo, ya que en los últimos años se ha producido la mayor oleada de emigración de la historia moderna de Cuba. Este artículo ofrece estadísticas clave sobre los 1.3 millones de inmigrantes cubanos en Estados Unidos.

Commentaries
September 2023

A Shrinking Number of DACA Participants Face Yet Another Adverse Court Ruling

The DACA program has received another blow to its survival, with a federal court once again ruling that the executive branch exceeded its authority in creating the program. But with litigation likely to continue for years, it is attrition that is actively reducing the program. This commentary examines the shrinking population of DACA holders, as well as those who have been locked out from participating.

Commentaries
September 2023

A Turning Point for the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States

The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States stood at approximately 11.2 million people in mid-2021, with larger annual growth than at any point since 2015, according to MPI's latest estimates. Even as the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population continued its decade-long decline, there were new entrants from a growing array of other countries.

Articles
September 7, 2023

Cuban Immigrants in the United States

Cubans comprise the largest Caribbean immigrant group in the United States, and for decades have benefitted from uniquely preferential immigration programs. The population is growing, as recent years have seen the largest wave of emigration in Cuba's modern history. This article offers key statistics about the 1.3 million Cuban immigrants in the United States.

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