Countries of Birth for U.S. Immigrants, 1960-Present
Countries of Birth for U.S. Immigrants, 1960-Present
This tool allows you to view the trends in the size of the immigrant population from a given country between 1960 and 2022. Immigrants from Italy represented the largest immigrant group in the United States in 1960. How did this population change over time? And what about other immigrant groups, for instance, from the United Kingdom or India? What about one of the fastest-growing groups (Venezuelans)? Select (or deselect) countries from the menu on the right to visualize the population change over time.
1) The term "immigrants" (or "foreign born") 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) All countries with available data for a decade or greater are included in the time series.
3) Prior to 2000, the number of immigrants from the 15 countries that were part of the former Soviet Union is not shown by individual country. From 2000 on, the Census Bureau reports data on Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, but not for the other six former Soviet Union republics.
4) Prior to 2000, the number of immigrants from the seven countries that were part of the former Yugoslavia is not shown by individual country. From 2000 on, the Census Bureau reports data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia (Macedonia), and Serbia, but not for Montenegro and Slovenia.
5) The estimates for China from 1960 onward include Taiwan, unless stated differently. Separate estimates for Hong Kong and Taiwan are also available.
6) The U.S. Census Bureau experienced significant challenges collecting data in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and released only a small number of data points from its 2020 American Community Survey (ACS), which it called “experimental.” This data tool does not include estimates from the 2020 ACS.
Migration Policy Institute (MPI) tabulation of data from U.S. Census Bureau, 2010, 2019, and 2022 American Community Surveys (ACS), and 2000 Decennial Census; data for 2000 for Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Burma, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Eritrea, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Liberia, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Senegal, Fiji, Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Belize, and Uruguay are from MPI tabulation of the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series for the 2000 Decennial Census (5% sample); data for 1960 to 1990 are from Campbell J. Gibson and Emily Lennon, "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850 to 1990" (Working Paper No. 29, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, 1999).