For First Time in Recorded History, Immigration Accounts for Entire Growth of the U.S. Population Year over Year

Latest edition of MPI’s Handy Guide to Key Immigration Statistics Is Out

WASHINGTON, DC — For the first time since 1850, when the U.S. Census Bureau started recording nativity data, immigration accounted for the entire growth of the U.S. population between 2022 and 2023, amid falling U.S. birth rates.

This finding is just one of many included in the latest edition of Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States, the popular guide issued yearly by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). This one-stop-shop for authoritative, essential data includes statistics on the changing shape and origins of the U.S. immigrant population, U.S. destinations, immigrant statuses and immigration enforcement.

The United States has long been home to more immigrants than any other country worldwide, and the U.S. immigrant population reached 47.8 million in 2023. While this represents a record number of immigrants, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population remains slightly below the record 14.8 percent set in 1890, standing at 14.3 percent in 2023.

Nearly three-quarters of all immigrants in the United States are legally present, and almost half are naturalized citizens.

Among the article’s other statistics:

• Twenty-six percent of all children in the United States live with at least one immigrant parent—double the 13 percent share recorded in 1990. Of these 17.9 million children in immigrant families, 86 percent were U.S. born.
• Immigrant-led households tend to have slightly higher incomes: Median foreign-born household income was about $78,700 in 2023, compared to $77,600 for households headed by the U.S. born.
• Immigrants participate in the workforce at a disproportionate rate: While representing about 14 percent of the total population, immigrants accounted for 18 percent of the civilian labor force.
• Mexican immigration represents a declining share of all immigration, with Mexican immigrants making up 23 percent of the foreign-born population in 2023, down from 29 percent in 2010. Still, Mexico is once again the top origin for new arrivals, followed by India and Cuba.  
• While the New York City metro area was home to more immigrants—5.9 million—than any other U.S. area, the foreign born accounted for nearly 42 percent of the population in greater Miami—the highest share nationwide.
• MPI estimates that as many as 3.8 million unauthorized immigrants, who numbered 13.7 million as of mid-2023, hold a liminal status offering protection from deportation and work authorization, whether through Temporary Protected Status, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), parole or other programs.

Find the article here: www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states.

Published by MPI’s Migration Information Source magazine, the Frequently Requested Statistics article is part of a suite of resources that aim to make key issues in U.S. immigration accessible:

• Spotlight articles offer useful data on individual immigrant groups, including by top origins, health care workers, veterans, and the college-educated.
• MPI’s Migration Data Hub is home to a wide range of interactive data tools and maps to visualize trends in the United States and worldwide.
• A series of explainers offer quick guides to the deportation process, immigrants’ role in the U.S. economy, and more.

These and other resources are available in MPI’s Immigration: The Basics collection.