Syrian Immigrants in the United States
A young woman in Washington, DC. (Photo: iStock.com/BDphoto)
Amid Syria’s devastating civil war, the number of Syrian immigrants in the United States roughly doubled between 2010 and 2024, rising from 60,000 to 122,000. Still, this figure remains a tiny fraction of all immigrants in the United States as well as the global number of Syrians who fled the country.
The 14-year civil war, which broke out in 2011, displaced one-quarter of Syria’s population, including 7.4 million people within Syria and 6.1 million internationally. While sizable numbers have returned to Syria since the late 2024 overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad, about 3.6 million Syrian refugees remained in the region as of May 2026, primarily in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.
In the United States, the 122,000 Syrian-born residents represented less than 0.5 percent of the 50.2 million immigrants living in the country as of 2024. Compared to the foreign-born population overall, Syrian immigrants are more likely to be U.S. citizens, have obtained a green card through refugee resettlement or asylum, and to be living in poverty.
Several Trump administration policies stand to limit future growth of the Syrian immigrant population, including imposition of travel bans, cuts to refugee resettlement, and efforts to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations. Syria is among the 19 countries whose nationals have been barred from obtaining permanent or temporary visas; the future of the travel ban, which took effect in January 2026, is uncertain after a federal judge ruled against it in early June. Given the historically significant role of refugee resettlement for Syrians, the administration's steep cuts to the refugee program have further restricted access to humanitarian protection. Additionally, approximately 6,100 Syrians in the United States held TPS as of September 2025, granting them protection from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. The Trump administration’s move to terminate TPS for Syrians has been blocked by the courts, with the case before the Supreme Court as of this writing.
This article provides information about the Syrian immigrant population in the United States, focusing on size, geographic distribution, and demographic characteristics such as age, proficiency with English, and socioeconomic status.
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
- Health Coverage
- Diaspora
- Top Global Destinations
Size of Immigrant Population over Time
About 22,000 Syrian-born immigrants resided in the United States in 1980. The population more than doubled to nearly 55,000 in 2000 and increased slightly to about 60,000 by 2010. The largest increase occurred between 2010 and 2024, coinciding with the Syrian civil war. The number of Syrian immigrants grew by 105 percent between 2010 and 2024, much higher than the 26 percent growth rate for all immigrants. Still, Syrians continue to be a relatively small U.S. immigrant group, making up about 0.2 percent of all foreign-born residents.
Figure 1. Syrian Immigrant Population in the United States, 1980-2024
Sources: Data from U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 and 2024 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.
Distribution by State and Key Cities
The top state of residence for Syrians in the United States as of the 2020-24 period was California, which was home to more than 28 percent of all Syrian immigrants in the country. Their other top states of residence were Michigan, New York, and Florida (with 7 percent each), followed by Texas (6 percent). Together, these five states were home to 55 percent of all Syrians in the United States.
Los Angeles and Orange counties, in California; Cook County, Illinois; Kings County, New York; and San Diego County, California were the top five counties of residence, together accounting for 25 percent of all Syrian immigrants in the United States.
Click here for an interactive map that highlights the states and counties with the highest concentrations of immigrants from Syria or other countries.
The top four cities of residence for Syrians were the greater Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, and Chicago metropolitan areas. About 36 percent of all Syrian immigrants lived in one of these four cities as of 2020-24 (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Top Metropolitan Destinations for Syrian Immigrants in the United States, 2020-24
Notes: Pooled 2020–24 ACS data were used to get statistically valid estimates at the state level for smaller-population geographies. Not shown are the populations in Alaska and Hawaii, which are 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 2020-24 ACS.
Click here for an interactive map that highlights the metro areas with the most immigrants from Syria or other regions.
Syrian immigrants’ levels of English proficiency are similar to those of the overall U.S. foreign-born population. In 2024, 48 percent of Syrians ages 5 and over reported speaking English less than “very well,” compared to 47 percent of all immigrants.
About 10 percent of Syrians over the age of 5 spoke only English at home, lower than the general foreign-born population (16 percent).
Age, Education, and Employment
In 2024, 68 percent of Syrian immigrants were of working age (18 to 64 years old), lower than the share of all immigrants (76 percent) but higher than that of U.S. natives (58 percent; see Figure 3). Syrian immigrants’ median age was 46 years, similar to that of immigrants overall (47 years) but higher than the U.S. born (37 years).
Figure 3. Age Distribution of the U.S. Population, by Origin, 2024
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 2024 ACS.
Syrian immigrant adults have similar rates of college-level education as both the overall foreign-born population and the native born. In 2024, 37 percent of Syrian 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. About 22 percent of Syrian immigrant adults lacked a high school diploma (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Educational Attainment of the U.S. Population (ages 25 and older), by Origin, 2024
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 2024 ACS.
Click here for data on immigrants’ educational attainment by country of origin and overall.
During the 2024-25 school year, only 430 students from Syria studied in U.S. colleges and universities, according to the Institute of International Education. Overall, close to 1.2 million international students were enrolled in U.S higher education that year.
Syrian immigrants had a civilian labor-force participation rate of 55 percent in 2024, lower than that of either immigrants overall (68 percent) or the U.S. born (63 percent). Syrians were primarily in management, business, science, and arts occupations, at a rate higher than that of the overall foreign-born population but less than the U.S. born (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. Employed Workers in the Civilian Labor Force (ages 16 and older), by Occupation and Origin, 2024
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 2024 ACS.
In 2024, households headed by a Syrian immigrant had a median annual income of $78,300, compared to $82,400 for all immigrant-led households and $81,400 for those led by U.S. natives.
In 2024, 25 percent of Syrian immigrants experienced poverty, a significantly higher share than for either the overall foreign-born population (14 percent) or 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.)
Immigration Pathways and Naturalization
Approximately 70 percent of Syrians were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2024, compared to 51 percent of all immigrants.
This high naturalization share is especially notable since Syrian immigrants tend to have arrived more recently: About 55 percent had arrived since 2010, compared to 38 percent of all immigrants (see Figure 6).
Figure 6. Syrian and All Immigrants in the United States, by Period of Arrival, 2024
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 2024 ACS.
In fiscal year (FY) 2024, 3,680 Syrians became U.S. lawful permanent residents (LPRs, also known as green-card holders). Of them, 45 percent obtained the status through pathways reserved for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, a rate on par with the rate for all new LPRs (47 percent). Syrians were less likely than immigrants overall to obtain a green card through employment-based pathways (6 percent compared to 17 percent) but more likely to obtain it through the refugee or asylum pathways (25 percent compared to 8 percent for immigrants overall).
Syrian immigrants were half as likely as the overall immigrant population to lack health insurance coverage as of 2024 (9 percent versus 18 percent, respectively). Fifty-four percent of Syrians had public insurance, a higher share than for immigrants overall or the U.S. born (see Figure 7).
Figure 7. Health Coverage for Syrian Immigrants, All Immigrants, and the U.S. Born, 2024
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 2024 ACS.
The Syrian diaspora in the United States was comprised of an estimated 261,000 individuals who were either born in Syria or reported Syrian ancestry, according to MPI tabulation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey.
Click here to see estimates of the 35 largest diasporas groups in the United States.
Globally, approximately 8.9 million Syrians resided outside their country of birth, according to mid-2024 estimates by the United Nations Population Division. Most Syrians living abroad were in Turkey (3.6 million), Jordan (1.6 million), or Germany (861,000), followed by Lebanon (785,000) and Saudi Arabia (496,000).
Click here to view an interactive map showing where migrants from Syria and other origins have settled worldwide.
Sources
Council of the European Union. 2025. Syria: EU Adopts Legal Acts to Lift Economic Sanctions on Syria, Enacting Recent Political Agreement. Press release, May 28, 2026. Available online.
Executive Office of the President. 2025. Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026. Federal Register 2025-19752: 90 FR 49005. Available online.
Gobat, Jeanne and Kristina Kostial. 2016. Syria's Conflict Economy. International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper no. 123, Washington, DC, June 2026. Available online.
Institute of International Education (IIE). N.d. International Students: All Places of Origin. Accessed April 13, 2026. Available online.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2025. Refugee Statistics. Updated April 2025. Available online.
---. 2025. Syria Refugee Crisis. Updated June 2025. Available online.
---. 2026. Operational Data Portal: Syria Regional Refugee Response. Updated May 14, 2026. Available online.
UN Population Division. 2024. International Migrant Stock 2024 by Destination and Origin. Available online.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 2025. Count of Active DACA Recipients by Month of Current DACA Expiration as of September 30, 2025. Available online.
---. 2026. Update on Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Syria. Updated March 12, 2026. Available online.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 2025. Termination of the Designation of Syria for Temporary Protected Status. Federal Register 2025-18322: 90 FR 45398. Available online.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS). 2024. 2023 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Washington, DC: OHSS. Available online.