E.g., 04/24/2024
E.g., 04/24/2024
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

An intern examines a newborn baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Articles
April 7, 2023
Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova
A flag hangs at the vice president's residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.
Articles
March 14, 2023
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Nicole Ward and Jeanne Batalova
Cover image for SNAP Access and Participation brief
Policy Briefs
March 2023
SNAP Access and Participation in U.S.-Born and Immigrant Households: A Data Profile
By  Valerie Lacarte, Lillie Hinkle and Briana L. Broberg
Asylum seekers from Venezuela in Texas.
Articles
February 15, 2023
Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States
By Ari Hoffman and Jeanne Batalova
People in a business meeting.
Articles
January 12, 2023
Chinese Immigrants in the United States
By Raquel Rosenbloom and Jeanne Batalova
Cover image for The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
Fact Sheets
December 2022
The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
A guest takes a photo at a Diwali reception at the White House.
Articles
December 7, 2022
Indian Immigrants in the United States
By Ari Hoffman and Jeanne Batalova
Cover image for A Profile of Low-Income Immigrants in the United States
Fact Sheets
November 2022
A Profile of Low-Income Immigrants in the United States
By  Julia Gelatt, Valerie Lacarte and Joshua Rodriguez

Pages

coverthumb COVID 19 EssentialWorkers FS
Fact Sheets
March 2020
Immigrant Workers: Vital to the U.S. COVID-19 Response, Disproportionately Vulnerable
By  Julia Gelatt
Coverthumb KansasCity Immigrants Health
Policy Briefs
November 2019
Health Insurance Coverage of Immigrants and Latinos in the Kansas City Metro Area
By  Randy Capps and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Coverthumb HighlySkilledMexicans TX
Fact Sheets
May 2019
A Profile of Highly Skilled Mexican Immigrants in Texas and the United States
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee
Coverthumb UnauthorizedImmigrant HS Graduates FactSheet
Fact Sheets
April 2019
How Many Unauthorized Immigrants Graduate from U.S. High Schools Annually?
By  Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
Coverthumb MPIPostsecondaryCredentials FactSheet
Fact Sheets
March 2019
Immigrant-Origin Adults without Postsecondary Credentials: A 50-State Profile
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Coverthumb_MPI ImmigrantOriginAdultsPSC
Reports
March 2019
Credentials for the Future: Mapping the Potential for Immigrant-Origin Adults in the United States
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
CoverthumbMPI MN Superdiversity
Reports
November 2018
Minnesota’s Superdiverse and Growing Dual Language Learner Child Population
By  Caitlin Katsiaficas and Maki Park
Coverthumb MPI PublicChargeImmigrationImpact
Policy Briefs
November 2018
Gauging the Impact of DHS’ Proposed Public-Charge Rule on U.S. Immigration
By  Randy Capps, Mark Greenberg, Michael Fix and Jie Zong

Pages

An intern examines a newborn baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Spotlight
April 7, 2023
Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States

Nearly 2.8 million immigrants worked in the U.S. health-care sector in 2021, representing disproportionately high shares of physicians, surgeons, and home health aides. This article offers a demographic and socioeconomic profile of foreign-born workers in health care.

A flag hangs at the vice president's residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.
Spotlight
March 14, 2023
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Want to check a fact about U.S. immigration? Interested in putting recent trends into perspective? This article compiles authoritative, up-to-date information about the U.S. immigrant population and how it has changed over time. Data cover immigrants' demographic, educational, and linguistic characteristics; their top states of residence; enforcement activities; refugees and asylum seekers; naturalization trends; visa backlogs; and more.

Asylum seekers from Venezuela in Texas.
Spotlight
February 15, 2023
Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States

Venezuelans comprise one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the United States, nearly tripling in size from 2010 to 2021. Much of this migration has been fueled by crisis in Venezuela, where political unrest and economic strife have caused millions to flee since 2015, most remaining in Latin America. Venezuelan immigrants are far more likely than the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations to have a college degree. Take an in-depth look at this immigrant population.

People in a business meeting.
Spotlight
January 12, 2023
Chinese Immigrants in the United States

The number of Chinese immigrants in the United States had grown swiftly for decades but shrank amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As a whole, Chinese immigrants tend to have more education and higher salaries than other immigrants, although they are less likely to be fluent in English. This article provides a sociodemographic profile of Chinese immigrants in the United States, their top destination globally.

A guest takes a photo at a Diwali reception at the White House.
Spotlight
December 7, 2022
Indian Immigrants in the United States

Significant immigration from India to the United States began only after 1965, when the United States dropped national-origin quotas that favored Europeans. Today, Indians make up the nation's second largest foreign-born group. On average, they tend to be very well educated: 80 percent have a college degree and nearly half hold a graduate or professional degree. This article offers a useful sociodemographic profile of the Indian population.

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Recent Activity

Articles
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.

Reports
March 2015

A Profile of Immigrants in Houston, the Nation's Most Diverse Metropolitan Area

In 2013 the Houston metro area was home to 1.4 million immigrants—with the nearly 60 percent growth in its immigrant population since 2000 nearly twice the national rate. This report provides an overview of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Houston's immigrants, along with their naturalization rates, legal status, and potential eligibility for immigration benefits such as citizenship or deferred action programs.
Articles
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.

Video, Audio
February 12, 2015

The Skills of Immigrants: What PIAAC Tells Us

A report release examining PIAAC data on the skills of U.S. immigrant adults and whether there is a gap with native-born adults, and discussion of how these skills relate to key immigrant integration outcomes such as employment, income, access to training, and health.

Reports
February 2015

Through an Immigrant Lens: PIAAC Assessment of the Competencies of Adults in the United States

Immigrant adults in the United States lag their native-born peers in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills, with resulting effects on their income, employment, education, and health, according to MPI analysis of U.S. scores on the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The findings, which reveal wide ethnic and racial gaps in scoring, underscore deep U.S. social inequalities.
Articles
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.

Articles
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.

Articles
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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