E.g., 04/19/2024
E.g., 04/19/2024
Profile of the Unauthorized Population - County Data (53033)
 

Profile of the Unauthorized Population:
King County, WA
DemographicsEstimate% of Total
Unauthorized Population 93,000 100%
Top Countries of Birth
Mexico 34,000 37%
India 12,000 13%
China/Hong Kong 9,000 10%
Philippines 6,000 7%
El Salvador 3,000 3%
Regions of Birth
Mexico and Central America 43,000 46%
Caribbean- -
South America 3,000 4%
Europe/Canada/Oceania 9,000 10%
Asia 33,000 36%
Africa 4,000 4%
Years of U.S. Residence
Less than 5 27,000 29%
5 to 9 18,000 20%
10 to 14 18,000 20%
15 to 19 17,000 18%
20 or more 13,000 14%
Age
Under 16 5,000 6%
16 to 24 14,000 15%
25 to 34 28,000 30%
35 to 44 26,000 28%
45 to 54 12,000 13%
55 and over 7,000 8%
Gender
Female 41,000 44%
FamilyEstimate% of Total
Parental Status
Population ages 15 and older 88,000 100%
Reside with at least one U.S.-citizen child under 18 30,000 34%
Reside with noncitizen children only under 18 6,000 7%
Reside with no children 53,000 60%
Marital Status
Population ages 15 and older 88,000 100%
Never married 33,000 38%
Married to a U.S. citizen 12,000 14%
Married to a legal permanent resident (LPR) 6,000 7%
Married to non-U.S. citizen/non-LPR 23,000 26%
Divorced, separated, widowed 13,000 15%
Education and LanguageEstimate% of Total
School Enrollment of Children and Youth
Population ages 3 to 17 6,000 100%
Enrolled 6,000 94%
Not enrolled- -
Population ages 3 to 12 3,000 100%
Enrolled 3,000 89%
Not enrolled- -
Population ages 13 to 17 4,000 100%
Enrolled 4,000 99%
Not enrolled- -
Population ages 18 to 24 13,000 100%
Enrolled 7,000 52%
Not enrolled 6,000 48%
Educational Attainment of Adults
Population ages 25 and older 73,000 100%
0-5 grade 7,000 10%
6-8 grade 7,000 10%
9-12 grade 9,000 12%
High school diploma or equivalent 14,000 20%
Some college or associate’s degree 10,000 14%
Bachelor’s, graduate, or professional degree 26,000 35%
English Proficiency
Population ages 5 and older 92,000 100%
Speak only English 8,000 9%
Speak English "very well" 31,000 34%
Speak English "well" 24,000 26%
Speak English "not well"/"not at all" 29,000 31%
Top 5 Languages Spoken at Home
Population ages 5 and older 92,000 100%
Spanish 43,000 47%
English 8,000 9%
Chinese 8,000 9%
Tagalog 5,000 6%
-- -
WorkforceEstimate% of Total
Labor Force Participation
Civilian population ages 16 and older 88,000 100%
Employed 61,000 69%
Unemployed 3,000 4%
Not in the labor force 24,000 27%
Top Industries of Employment
Civilian employed population ages 16 and older 61,000 100%
Accommodation and food services, arts, entertainment, and recreation 12,000 20%
Professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services 12,000 19%
Construction 10,000 16%
Retail trade 6,000 10%
Health services and social assistance 5,000 8%
EconomicsEstimate% of Total
Family Income
Below 50% of the poverty level 10,000 11%
50-99% of the poverty level 8,000 9%
100-149% of the poverty level 9,000 10%
150-199% of the poverty level 9,000 10%
At or above 200% of the poverty level 56,000 61%
Access to Health Insurance
Uninsured 37,000 40%
Home Ownership*
Homeowner 27,000 30%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Source: These 2019 data result from Migration Policy Institute (MPI) analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from the pooled 2015-19 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), weighted to 2019 unauthorized immigrant population estimates provided by Jennifer Van Hook of The Pennsylvania State University.

Note: For U.S. and state estimates of the unauthorized population potentially eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, click here.

Data-related notes
* “Homeowners” are unauthorized immigrants residing in homes that are owned, not rented.

+ Includes the following Colorado counties: Adams, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, and Jefferson, as well as portions of Arapahoe, Boulder, and Weld counties.

++ NECTAs refer to New England City and Town Areas, geographic entities defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for use as alternatives to counties in the six-state New England region.

Estimate for China includes Hong Kong but excludes Taiwan; estimate for Korea includes South Korea and North Korea.

“School Enrollment of Children and Youth” refers to unauthorized immigrants who reported attending school or college at any time in the three months prior to the survey.

For languages, “Chinese” includes Mandarin, Cantonese, and other Chinese languages; “English” includes English, Jamaican Creole, Krio, Pidgin Krio, and other English-based Creole languages; “French” includes French, Patois, and Cajun; “Pacific Island languages” includes Ilocano, Samoan, Hawaiian, Sebuano, Chamorro, Guamanian, Marshallese, Trukese, Tongan, and other Austronesian languages, but excludes Tagalog and Filipino, which are reported separately; “Portuguese” includes Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole; “Sub-Saharan African” includes Swahili or other Bantu languages, Mande, Fulani, Kru, and other unspecified African languages; “Tagalog” includes Tagalog and Filipino.

For industries, “Other services” are miscellaneous services, not including the following services listed separately: (1) professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services; (2) educational services; (3) health and social services; and (4) accommodation and food services, arts, entertainment, and recreation.

 “-” estimates are zero, not applicable, or not displayed due to small sample size.

Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Methodology in Brief:
MPI’s method uses information from the SIPP to assign legal status to noncitizens in the ACS. In the SIPP, noncitizens report whether they currently have lawful permanent resident (LPR) status—i.e., a green card. Those without LPR status may be recent refugees, temporary visitors (e.g., international students or high-skilled H-1B workers), or unauthorized immigrants. Our method maps characteristics such as country of birth, year of U.S. entry, age, gender, and educational attainment between the two surveys, and those noncitizens in the ACS who have characteristics similar to those reporting LPR status in the SIPP are coded as LPRs in the ACS. The remaining noncitizens—who are similar in characteristics to those not reporting LPR status in the SIPP—are classified as either unauthorized or legal temporary migrants, depending on whether they meet the qualifications for H-1B and the other temporary visa classifications. Estimates of unauthorized immigrants are weighted to match control totals (benchmarks) for immigrants from a set of origin countries and world regions. These control totals are calculated by subtracting the number of legal immigrants from the total of all immigrants for each country and region that are captured in the ACS data. The number of legal immigrants is estimated by adding up all legal admissions from each country and region in every year—using Department of Homeland Security administrative data—and then reducing this number to account for deaths and emigration of legal immigrants. Finally, the unauthorized immigrant population estimates are adjusted upward slightly to account for the undercount of this population in the ACS. 

MPI’s overall method was developed in consultation with James Bachmeier of Temple University and Jennifer Van Hook of The Pennsylvania State University, Population Research Institute. For more detail on the methods, see MPI, “MPI Methodology for Assigning Legal Status to Noncitizen Respondents in U.S. Census Bureau Survey Data.” The control totals were developed by Van Hook. These estimates have the same sampling and coverage errors as any other survey-based estimates that rely on ACS and other Census Bureau data.