Immigrants' Regions of Birth over Time
Immigrants' Regions of Birth over Time
Learn how the top regions of birth of the immigrant population in the United States changed since 1960. Use the time slider to see the change in immigrants' origins.
1) The term "immigrants" refers to people residing in the United States who were not U.S. citizens at birth. This population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), certain legal nonimmigrants (e.g., persons on student or work visas), those admitted under refugee or asylee status, and persons illegally residing in the United States.
2) In contrast to 1960 to 1990, nonresponse on country or region of birth in both 2000 and 2010 was allocated. For 2000, the "Not reported" category only includes 316 people who were born at sea. For 2011, persons born at the sea were excluded from the total estimate.
Migration Policy Institute tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 and 2012 American Community Surveys. Data from the 1970, 1990, and 2000 Censuses were accessed from Steven Ruggles, J. Trent Alexander, Katie Genadek, Ronald Goeken, Matthew B. Schroeder, and Matthew Sobek. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 5.0 [Machine-readable database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2010. Data for 1850 to 1990, excluding 1940 and 1950 were from Campbell J. Gibson and Emily Lennon, "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of the United States: 1850-1990" U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Working Paper No. 29, February 1999.