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

Senate LegalizationCommentaryFeb2018
Commentaries
February 2018
A Path to Citizenship for 1.8 Million DREAMERs? Despite Talk, No Proposal Would Do So
By  Sarah Pierce
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Articles
February 8, 2018
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Jie Zong, Jeanne Batalova, and Jeffrey Hallock
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Articles
January 10, 2018
Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States
By Mattea Cumoletti and Jeanne Batalova
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Commentaries
November 2017
Legalization for DREAMers: A Realistic Appraisal of Potential Chain Migration
By  Julia Gelatt and Randy Capps
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Fact Sheets
November 2017
A Profile of Current DACA Recipients by Education, Industry, and Occupation
By  Jie Zong, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Jeanne Batalova, Julia Gelatt and Randy Capps
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Articles
November 9, 2017
Cuban Immigrants in the United States
By Jeanne Batalova and Jie Zong
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Fact Sheets
October 2017
Differing DREAMs: Estimating the Unauthorized Populations That Could Benefit under Different Legalization Bills
By  Jeanne Batalova, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Sarah Pierce and Randy Capps
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Fact Sheets
October 2017
Protecting the DREAM: The Potential Impact of Different Legislative Scenarios for Unauthorized Youth
By  Jeanne Batalova, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Michelle Mittelstadt

Pages

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Fact Sheets
September 2003
Immigration Since September 11, 2001
By  Elizabeth Grieco, Deborah W. Meyers and Kathleen Newland
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Reports
March 2003
Women Immigrants in the United States
By  Deborah W. Meyers and Maia Jachimowicz
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Policy Briefs
February 2003
Census 2010 and the Foreign Born: Averting the Data Crisis
By  Elizabeth Grieco

Pages

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Spotlight
June 28, 2017
Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States

Approximately 2.1 million immigrants work in health-care occupations in the United States, comprising nearly 17 percent of the 12.4 million doctors, nurses, dentists, and other health-care professionals. Learn more about immigrant health-care workers in the United States with this data-rich article, including top occupations nationally and by state, countries of origin, educational levels, visa pathways, and much more.

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Spotlight
June 7, 2017
Refugees and Asylees in the United States

The United States has historically led the world on refugee resettlement, and today remains the top country, having resettled approximately 85,000 refugees in fiscal 2016. It also granted asylum status to more than 26,000 individuals in FY 2015. This article examines characteristics of U.S. refugee and asylee populations, including top countries of origin, states of resettlement, age and gender, and more.

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Spotlight
May 3, 2017
Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States

The population of sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States has grown rapidly in recent decades, from 130,000 in 1980 to 1.7 million in 2015. The current flow of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa consists of skilled professionals, individuals seeking reunification with relatives, and refugees from war-torn countries. This article provides the latest data on immigrants from the region in the United States.

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Spotlight
April 21, 2017
Inmigrantes Centroamericanos en los Estados Unidos

La migración centroamericana a los Estados Unidos comenzó en gran números en los años ochenta, impulsada por la inestabilidad política, los desastres naturales y las dificultades económicas. Aproximadamente 3,4 millones de centroamericanos vivieron en los Estados Unidos en 2015, principalmente de El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras. Dónde viven en los Estados Unidos, su competencia en inglés, su estado legal, las vías de inmigración, y más, están cubiertos en este artículo.

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Spotlight
April 5, 2017
Central American Immigrants in the United States

Central American migration to the United States began in large numbers in the 1980s, fueled by political instability, natural disaster, and economic hardship. Approximately 3.4 million Central Americans lived in the United States in 2015, primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Where they live in the United States, their English proficiency, legal status, immigration pathways, and more are covered in this article.

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Recent Activity

Articles
October 13, 2022

Mexican Immigrants in the United States

Mexicans are by far the largest immigrant group in the United States, accounting for nearly one-fourth of all immigrants. However their numbers have been declining and in 2021 there were 1 million fewer than a decade ago. At the same time, despite years in which more new migrants came from China and India, Mexicans once again count as the largest group of new arrivals. This article outlines the changing shape and composition of this immigrant population.

Fact Sheets
October 2022

Dual Language Learners: Key Characteristics and Considerations for Early Childhood Programs

How many Dual Language Learner (DLL) children live in your state, and what share do they comprise of all children under age 5? What languages are most commonly spoken in their households? Answers to these and other questions that are critical to the design and implementation of early childhood programs that reach all children equitably are presented in a series of state-level data fact sheets.

Policy Briefs
October 2022

Diverging Pathways: Immigrants’ Legal Status and Access to Postsecondary Credentials

As the United States seeks to adapt to trends such as technological change and aging that are reshaping the labor market, increasing productivity and the number of high-skilled workers will be critical. This issue brief explores the characteristics of the 115 million adults without postsecondary credentials, 21 percent of them immigrant, as well as the prospects for credential acquisition for foreign-born subgroups.

Articles
September 15, 2022

Temporary Visa Holders in the United States

COVID-19 and restrictive policies from the Trump administration led to the most dramatic slowdown of temporary immigration to the United States in years, as fewer tourists, temporary workers, and international students arrived. This article reviews the trends in issuance of nonimmigrant visas and arrivals of temporary visitors, including the numbers issued annually over the past five years and the top countries of origin.

Articles
August 4, 2022

Brazilian Immigrants in the United States

Persistent economic turmoil and civil and political insecurity have been drivers of emigration from Brazil, including to the United States. Although the number of Brazilian immigrants in the United States has been on the rise since the 1980s, the magnitude of these flows has made the past decade unique. Read a useful profile of Brazilians immigrants, including U.S. destinations, modes of entry, and educational and work characteristics.

Articles
July 7, 2022

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants from the Caribbean living in the United States come from a diverse set of countries and territories, with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago the top origins. This article offers a sociodemographic profile of Caribbean immigrants, who represent 10 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population and nearly half of all Black immigrants in the United States.

Policy Briefs
June 2022

Immigrant Children’s Medicaid and CHIP Access and Participation: A Data Profile

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program help many children in low-income families access health care. But under federal rules, hundreds of thousands of children are ineligible due to immigration status. This brief presents U.S. and state-level estimates of immigrant children who are eligible for and participate in these programs and considers the impact of state policies that expand access to public health insurance.

Articles
June 22, 2022

Ukrainian Immigrants in the United States

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 displaced millions, the United States was home to nearly 355,000 Ukrainians. While most displaced Ukrainians have remained in neighboring countries, small numbers have come to the United States. This article examines the pre-invasion Ukrainian immigrant population in the United States—its history, sociodemographic characteristics, modes of arrival, and more.

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