Korean Immigrants in the United States

Significant migration from the Korean peninsula to the United States began in the early 20^th century and over time has been driven by a mix of political, military, economic, and demographic factors. Korean immigrants arriving in the first half of the 20^th century were mostly low-skilled agricultural workers, but immigration increased following the removal of legal barriers in later decades, especially the 1965 end to national-origin quotas which prioritized European immigrants. Koreans coming to the United States after World War II have tended to have higher rates of college education and work in managerial, professional, and scientific occupations.

Close to 1.1 million Korean immigrants (predominately from South Korea) resided in the United States as of 2024, representing about 2 percent of all 50.2 million U.S. immigrants. The United States is the top destination for Korean migrants globally.

Compared to immigrants in the United States overall, Korean immigrants are more likely to:

• obtain a green card through employment-based immigration pathways;
• be naturalized citizens; and
• have higher levels of education and higher household income.

This Spotlight provides information on the Korean immigrant population in the United States, capturing its size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics. Data in this article come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) unless otherwise indicated.1

How Has Korean Immigration to the United States Evolved Over Time?

In 1980, about 290,000 Korean immigrants lived in the United States; the population tripled to 864,000 by 2000 (see Figure 1). The Korean immigrant population peaked in 2010 at 1.1 million and has stabilized since then, numbering 1.09 million in 2024. The very modest decline since 2010 is notable in comparison with trends involving the overall U.S. immigrant population, which grew by 26 percent from 2010 to 2024.

Which States, Cities, and Counties Are the Top Destinations for Korean Immigrants?

Just over half of Korean immigrants in the United States resided in one of four states as of the 2020-24 period: California (30 percent), New York (8 percent), New Jersey (7 percent), and Texas (6 percent). The top five counties for Korean immigrants were Los Angeles and Orange counties in California, Bergen County in New Jersey, Queens County in New York, and Fairfax County in Virginia. Together, these five counties were home to 30 percent of Korean immigrants in the United States.

As of the 2020-24 period, the following metropolitan areas were collectively home to 46 percent of Korean immigrants (see Figure 2):

• Los Angeles
• New York City
• Washington, DC
• Seattle
• Atlanta

Who Are Korean Immigrants? Age, Education, and English Proficiency

In 2024, the median age of Korean immigrants was 52, exceeding that of the overall foreign-born population (47) and the U.S. born (37). About 71 percent of Korean immigrants were of working age (between ages 18 and 64), lower than the overall immigrant population but higher than the U.S. born (see Figure 3).

Korean immigrants have high rates of educational attainment compared to the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations. In 2024, 60 percent of Korean immigrant adults (ages 25 and older) held a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 36 percent of all immigrants and 37 percent of the U.S. born. Meanwhile, 7 percent of Korean immigrant adults lacked a high school diploma, on par with the U.S. born but lower than immigrants overall (see Figure 4).

Click here for data on immigrants’ educational attainment by country of origin and overall.

South Korea is the third largest country of origin for international students in the United States, after China and India. About 42,300 Korean students were enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions during the 2024-25 school year, according to the Institute of International Education, representing about 4 percent of the nearly 1.2 million international students.2 Additionally, Korean nationals were the fifth largest group for approved H-1B petitions in fiscal year (FY) 2025, with 1 percent (4,200) of all 406,300 approvals that year, after India (283,800, or 70 percent), China (12 percent), and the Philippines and Canada (1 percent each).3

English Proficiency

Forty-eight percent of Korean immigrants ages 5 and older reported speaking English less than “very well” as of 2024, compared to about 47 percent of the total foreign-born population. However, 21 percent of Korean immigrants reported speaking only English at home, compared to 16 percent of all immigrants.

Where Do Korean Immigrants Work and What Are Their Income and Poverty Levels?

Korean immigrants participate in the civilian labor force at a somewhat lower rate (62 percent) than all immigrants (68 percent), but similar to the native born (63 percent). Nearly two-thirds of Korean immigrants worked in management, business, science, and arts occupations, which was by far the most popular career type, followed by sales and office occupations (16 percent; see Figure 5).

Korean immigrants had a median household income of $100,200 in 2024, significantly exceeding the median incomes of immigrant households overall ($82,400) and U.S.-born-led households ($81,400).

Additionally, 10 percent of Korean immigrants were in poverty, which is less than the percentage for the overall foreign-born population (14 percent) and the U.S. born (12 percent). (The U.S. Census Bureau defines poverty as having an income below $32,100 for a family of four in 2024.4)

What Share of Korean Immigrants Have Health Coverage?

Korean immigrants were more likely to hold private health insurance than the immigrant population overall as of 2024: about 69 percent versus 57 percent (see Figure 6). Similar to the U.S. born, Korean immigrants were significantly less likely to be uninsured than the total immigrant population (7 percent versus 18 percent).

How Did Korean Immigrants Arrive and What Are Their Legal Statuses?

As of 2024, 69 percent of Korean immigrants were naturalized U.S. citizens, compared to 51 percent of immigrants overall.

This statistic reflects the fact that Korean immigrants are a long-settled population in the United States. Fifty-seven percent entered the country before 2000, compared to 41 percent of all immigrants. About 22 percent of Koreans entered in 2010 or later (see Figure 7).

More than 15,100 Korean immigrants became lawful permanent residents (LPRs, also known as green-card holders) in FY 2024 (the most recent year for which data are available), of whom all but 40 were from South Korea.5

Employment sponsorship was the primary pathway to obtain permanent residence. About 56 percent of Koreans became green-card holders through this route in FY 2024, compared to 13 percent of all new LPRs. About 43 percent of Korean immigrants who became green-card holders in FY 2024 did so through family reunification, compared to 63 percent of all new LPRs.

Unauthorized Immigrant Population

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that about 142,000 unauthorized immigrants were from Korea as of mid-2024, accounting for less than 1 percent of all 15.8 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States.6 The Korean-born accounted for 11 percent of the 1.3 million unauthorized immigrants from Asia.

About 4,200 Korean immigrants as of December 2025 were beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary deportation relief and work authorization to unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children and met the program’s education and other eligibility criteria.7 Koreans represented less than 1 percent of all 495,300 active DACA recipients but were the sixth largest national-origin group, behind immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.

Click here to view the top origin countries of DACA recipients and their U.S. states of residence.

How Many U.S. Residents Have Korean Ancestry?

The Korean diaspora in the United States was comprised of an estimated 2.2 million individuals who were either born on the Korean peninsula or reported Korean ancestry or origin, according to MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 ACS. This number combines individuals born in South Korea and North Korea with people of Korean descent who were born in the United States or elsewhere.8

What Are Other Major Destinations Globally for Korean Migrants?

Globally, nearly 2.1 million Koreans resided outside their country of birth, according to mid-2024 estimates by the United Nations Population Division.9 Although the majority of Koreans emigrated from South Korea, about 46,000 were from North Korea. After the United States, the largest concentrations were in the following countries (see Figure 8):

• Japan (home to 418,000 Korean migrants)
• Canada (151,000)
• Australia (114,000)
• China/Hong Kong (80,000)
• Vietnam (49,000)
• New Zealand (32,000)

Click here to view an interactive map showing where migrants from Korea and other origins have settled worldwide.

How Much Money Do Korean-Origin Communities Remit to Support the Homeland?

Migrants and other individuals worldwide sent approximately $7.8 billion in remittances to South Korea via formal channels in 2024, the most recent year for which data are available, up from $7.7 billion in 2023.10 Remittance flows to South Korea have grown over time, increasing by nearly 34 percent from $5.9 billion in 2010 (see Figure 9). Remittances represented a tiny share (0.4 percent) of South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024. Data for remittances to North Korea are not available.

Click here to view an interactive chart showing annual remittances received and sent by Korea and other countries.

Sources

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. 

Institute of International Education (IIE). N.d. International Students: All Places of Origin. Accessed July 24, 2026. 

Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Migration Data Hub. 2026. U.S. Immigrant Population by Metropolitan Area. Accessed June 24, 2026.

Ratha, Dilip, Sonia Plaza, and Eung Ju Kim. 2024. In 2024, Remittance Flows to Low- and Middle-Income Countries Are Expected to Reach $685 Billion, Larger than FDI and ODA Combined. World Bank blog post, December 18, 2024.

Ruiz Soto, Ariel, Julia Gelatt, and Jennifer Van Hook. 2026. Following Years of High Border Arrivals, the U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Hits New Peak. Commentary, MPI, July 29, 2026.

UN Population Division. 2024. International Migrant Stock 2024 by Destination and Origin. 

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024. Press release, September 9, 2025.

---. N.d. 2024 American Community Survey — Advanced Search: S0201 Selected Population Profile in the United States. Accessed July 24, 2026.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 2026. Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers: Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report to Congress October 1, 2024-September 30, 2025. Washington, DC: USCIS.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS). 2024. Table 3: Persons Obtaining Lawful Permanent Resident Status by Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal Years 2014 to 2024. Updated June 8, 2026.