Immigration is one of the more popular news topics in the US. In absolute numbers, the United States has a larger immigrant population than any other country, with 47 million immigrants as of 2015. This represents 19.1% of the 244 million international migrants worldwide, and 14.4% of the US
Lattice Publishing conducted a study in 2016 that showed that nearly 1.5 million people had immigrated to the US. This amount of people would be similar to the population of San Antonio, a single city located in Texas.
Their study also showed there were an estimated 42 million foreign-born people in the US, nearly 13 percent of the total population. Of the total number, only half were naturalized citizens. The highest totals of immigrants have been observed to have arrived from Asian and Latin American countries.
Lattice Publishing also reviewed the American Community Survey which provides data for a 5-year period of time known as the national census. The group used the US Census Bureau of 2012-2016 to construct a ranking of states with the highest numbers of the foreign-born populations and their common originating country.
The most populated places for foreign-born people are more commonly found along the coast. For example, high populations of immigrants were found in states such as California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Mexico was also found to be the most common origin country across many states. The Northeastern part of the US was found to be the most evenly distributed among immigrants. The following lists of 15 states show the highest immigrant population
States with the highest foreign-born populations
15. Arizona
- Foreign-born population (percent): 13.4%
- Foreign-born population (total): 901,548
- Native population: 5,827,029
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 40.5%
- Most common country of origin: Mexico
14. Rhode Island
- Foreign-born population (percent): 13.5%
- Foreign-born population (total): 142,663
- Native population: 911,828
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 52.4%
- Most common country of origin: Dominican Republic
13. Washington
- Foreign-born population (percent): 13.5%
- Foreign-born population (total): 957,185
- Native population: 6,115,961
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 46.8%
- Most common country of origin: Mexico
12. Illinois
- Foreign-born population (percent): 13.9%
- Foreign-born population (total): 1,791,568
- Native population: 11,060,116
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 48.5%
- Most common country of origin: Mexico
11. District of Columbia
- Foreign-born population (percent): 14.0%
- Foreign-born population (total): 92,513
- Native population: 566,496
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 41.6%
- Most common country of origin: El Salvador
10. Connecticut
- Foreign-born population (percent): 14.0%
- Foreign-born population (total): 503,209
- Native population: 3,085,361
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 49.4%
- Most common country of origin: India
9. Maryland
- Foreign-born population (percent): 14.7%
- Foreign-born population (total): 874,332
- Native population: 5,085,570
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 49.4%
- Most common country of origin: El Salvador
8. Massachusetts
- Foreign-born population (percent): 15.7%
- Foreign-born population (total): 1,061,461
- Native population: 5,680,682
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 52.2%
- Most common country of origin: China
7. Texas
- Foreign-born population (percent): 16.7%
- Foreign-born population (total): 4,494,345
- Native population: 22,462,090
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 35.4%
- Most common country of origin: Mexico
6. Hawaii
- Foreign-born population (percent): 17.9%
- Foreign-born population (total): 253,551
- Native population: 1,160,122
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 56.7%
- Most common country of origin: Philippines
5. Nevada
- Foreign-born population (percent): 19.3%
- Foreign-born population (total): 547,696
- Native population: 2,291,476
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 46.7%
- Most common country of origin: Mexico
4. Florida
- Foreign-born population (percent): 19.9%
- Foreign-born population (total): 3,967,671
- Native population: 15,966,780
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 53.8%
- Most common country of origin: Cuba
3. New Jersey
- Foreign-born population (percent): 21.8%
- Foreign-born population (total): 1,943,338
- Native population: 6,972,118
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 53.9%
- Most common country of origin: India
2. New York
- Foreign-born population (percent): 22.6%
- Foreign-born population (total): 4,442,247
- Native population: 15,255,210
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 54.5%
- Most common country of origin: Dominican Republic
1. California
- Foreign-born population (percent): 27.0%
- Foreign-born population (total): 10,437,630
- Native population: 28,216,576
- Foreign-born population w/ citizenship: 49.2%
- Most common country of origin: Mexico
Methodology and Results
The following information was obtained using the American Community Survey conducted by the US Census Bureau for the years 2012-2016. “Native-born” is the term used to define a person born within the United States or Territories and to those born abroad with at least one parent is a citizen of the US.
“Foreign-born” is the term to refer to those that are not born within the US or its Territories and those who have become naturalized, those with legal permanent resident status, temporary or humanitarian migrants and undocumented migrants. The most common origin country of foreign-born population can be found through the link below;
