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Statistics

Immigrant Population Statistics in the United States and Worldwide

Key immigrant population statistics on U.S. growth, geography, origins, arrival periods, citizenship, age, education, work, and global migration.

September 30, 2026 6 min read missionamerican.com Editorial Team

Immigrant population statistics show how the United States has changed from 1970 through the latest available estimates, while also placing U.S. migration in a global context. In U.S. Census Bureau reporting, “foreign-born” means people who were not U.S. citizens at birth. That measure includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, temporary migrants, humanitarian migrants, and unauthorized migrants.

The U.S. figures below are primarily American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates. They should not be treated as administrative flow counts. The 2023 ACS table provides the latest U.S. total used here, while the detailed characteristics come from the Census Bureau’s 2022 brief. Global figures use the United Nations international migrant stock concept: people whose country of residence differs from their country of birth. That series is not directly interchangeable with the U.S. foreign-born series.

Contents

How the U.S. immigrant population has changed

The foreign-born population grew substantially over the long term. In 1970, the United States had 9.6 million foreign-born residents, equal to 4.7% of the total population. By 2022, the foreign-born population had reached 46.2 million, or 13.9% of the total population. The Census Bureau reported a 15.6% increase between 2010 and 2022.

The latest total in this set is an estimate from the 2023 ACS: 47,831,411 people in the United States were foreign-born. Because the 2023 number comes from a separate ACS table and the detailed characteristics below come from the 2022 brief, the years should remain distinct when comparing them.

Growth occurred across much of the country. Between 2010 and 2022, 42 states and the District of Columbia had foreign-born population increases of at least 10%. Even so, the foreign-born share was 10% or less of the state population in 34 states in 2022. These figures describe different dimensions of change: a state can experience growth while still having a relatively small foreign-born share.

Where immigrants live

In 2022, California had the largest listed foreign-born total, with 10.430 million residents. They represented 26.7% of the state population. Texas had 5.169 million foreign-born residents, representing 17.2%, while Florida had 4.817 million, representing 21.7%.

New York had 4.460 million foreign-born residents, or 22.7% of its population. New Jersey had 2.181 million, or 23.5%. Massachusetts had 1.260 million, or 18.0%, and Washington had 1.188 million, or 15.3%.

Nevada had 601,000 foreign-born residents, equal to 18.9% of its population. At the other end of the listed state figures, West Virginia had 32,000 foreign-born residents, equal to 1.8% of its population.

StateForeign-born residents, 2022Share of state population
California10.430 million26.7%
Texas5.169 million17.2%
Florida4.817 million21.7%
New York4.460 million22.7%
New Jersey2.181 million23.5%
Massachusetts1.260 million18.0%
Washington1.188 million15.3%
Nevada601,00018.9%
West Virginia32,0001.8%

The state comparison illustrates why both counts and percentages matter. California’s total is much larger than Nevada’s, but the population share indicates how prominent the foreign-born population is relative to each state’s entire population. The figures are 2022 ACS estimates from the Census Bureau’s The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2022.

Regions and countries of origin

Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for the largest regional-origin group in 2022. People born there numbered 23.230 million and represented 50.3% of the U.S. foreign-born population. Within that broad group, 10.680 million people were born in Mexico, equal to 23.1% of the total. Other Central American countries accounted for 3.957 million people, or 8.6%; South America accounted for 3.971 million, or 8.6%; and the Caribbean accounted for 4.627 million, or 10.0%.

Asia was the second-largest listed region, with 14.350 million people, or 31.1% of the foreign-born population. Europe accounted for 4.729 million, or 10.2%. Africa accounted for 2.753 million, or 6.0%.

The remaining regional categories were smaller. People born in Northern America numbered 829,000 and represented 1.8% of the foreign-born population. People born in Oceania numbered 289,000 and represented 0.6%.

These categories describe place of birth, not current nationality, immigration status, or the timing of arrival. They also use the Census Bureau’s U.S. foreign-born definition, so they should not be substituted directly for the United Nations’ global international migrant stock measure.

Arrival periods and naturalization

Nearly one-third of the U.S. foreign-born population entered the country in 2010 or later, according to the 2022 Census brief. Arrival timing varied by origin group. Among African-born residents, 48.2% entered in 2010 or later. The corresponding shares were 40.1% among South American-born residents, 38.2% among residents born in other Central American countries, and 33.6% among Caribbean-born residents.

Some groups had an older arrival profile. Among Northern American-born residents, 37.1% entered before 1990. Among European-born residents, 36.0% entered before 1990. Among Mexican-born residents, 18.4% entered after 2009, representing about 2.0 million people.

Naturalization also differed by origin. In 2022, the naturalization rate was 67.4% among European-born residents and 62.8% among Asian-born residents. Naturalization rates describe the share who became U.S. citizens through naturalization; they are not the same measure as the share who entered during a particular period.

Age structure

The foreign-born population was older, on median, than the native-born population in 2022. The median age was 46.7 years among foreign-born people, compared with 36.9 years among native-born people.

Working-age adults made up a larger share of the foreign-born population. People ages 18 to 64 represented 76.6% of the foreign-born population, compared with 58.4% of the native-born population. People under age 18 represented 5.7% of the foreign-born population.

Age patterns also varied by origin. People born in Mexico had the highest working-age share among the listed origin groups, at 84.0%. The working-age share was 81.1% among Africa-born people. People age 65 and older represented 19.5% of the Asian-born population.

These percentages are population-composition measures for 2022. They do not describe the age of people at arrival, the number of children in immigrant families, or future population growth.

Education and labor-force participation

Among foreign-born people age 25 and older, 75.1% had completed high school or higher in 2022. The comparable share among native-born people was 92.8%. These figures use different population groups by nativity but the same age threshold.

Educational attainment varied by region of birth. A bachelor’s degree or higher was held by 55.4% of Asian-born people age 25 and older, 47.3% of European-born people, and 52.0% of Northern American-born people.

Labor-force participation was 66.9% for foreign-born people age 16 and older, compared with 62.9% for native-born people in the same broad age category. Among African-born people age 16 and older, the labor-force participation rate was 76.1%. The rate for African-born females age 16 and older was 69.4%.

Labor-force participation means the share of the specified population that is working or actively looking for work. It is not an employment rate and does not indicate whether jobs are full-time, part-time, temporary, or in a particular occupation.

Global immigrant population statistics

The United Nations estimated the global international migrant stock at 304 million people in 2024, compared with an estimated 154 million in 1990. International migrants represented 3.7% of the world population in 2024, up from 2.9% in 1990.

Europe hosted the largest regional total in 2024, with 94 million international migrants. Northern America hosted 61 million, while Northern Africa and Western Asia hosted 54 million.

The share of migrants in a region’s resident population also varied. International migrants comprised 21% of Oceania’s resident population in 2024. In Northern America, they comprised 16% of the region’s 385 million residents.

The United Nations figures are international migrant stock estimates, while the Census Bureau figures are U.S. foreign-born population estimates. The definitions overlap in broad subject matter but are not identical. For U.S.-specific planning, demographic comparisons, or immigration guides, the measurement definition, geography, source, and year should be stated with every statistic.

Sources

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missionamerican.com Editorial Team

Editorial team

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