Top Diaspora Groups in the United States, 2022
Top Diaspora Groups in the United States, 2022
The history of immigration to the United States is marked by the arrival of individuals coming from across the globe to improve their economic fortunes, reunify with relatives, obtain education, seek protection, or other reason. What are the largest groups residing in the United States that trace their origin to a particular country such as Mexico, France, or Japan? Are they more likely to be recent arrivals or were they born in the United States and claim ancestral ties? Use this interactive chart to view the 35 largest diaspora groups in the United States, and whether they were born in the United States or abroad.
* United Kingdom: Includes individuals who identified their ancestry as British, English, Scottish, Welsh, British Isles, or Anglo; Ireland: Includes individuals who were born in Ireland or Northern Ireland or identified as Irish, Irish-Scotch, or Scotch-Irish; France: Includes individuals who identified their ancestry French as well as Basque; Born in Puerto Rico: Refers to individuals born in Puerto Rico regardless of their U.S. citizenship status at birth; China: Country of birth estimate for China includes Hong Kong and Macao, but not Taiwan. Diaspora estimate excludes persons reporting "Taiwanese alone" ancestry; Canada: Includes individuals who identified as Canadian or French Canadian; Czech Republic: Includes individuals who identified as Czech and Czechoslovakian.
1) The term "diaspora" includes individuals born in the country as well as those who cited that origin as their ancestry, race, and/or ethnicity regardless of where they were born. Ancestry refers to a person’s ethnic origin or descent, “roots,” or heritage; or the place of birth of the person, the person's parents, or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. With exception of Puerto Ricans, the term "immigrants" (or the "foreign born") refers to people residing in the United States at the time of the survey who were not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent immigrants, refugees and asylees, legal nonimmigrants (including those on student, work, or other temporary visas), and persons residing in the country without authorization.
2) Diaspora figures may overlap for some origin groups.
Migration Policy Institute (MPI) tabulation of U.S. Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) microdata accessed from Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Matthew Sobek, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Renae Rogers, and Megan Schouweiler. IPUMS USA: Version 14.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V14.0.