Facts on U.S. immigrants, 2018

Try our email course on U.S. immigration

Learn about immigration through five short lessons delivered to your inbox every other day. Sign up now!

This statistical profile of the foreign-born population in the 50 states and the District of Columbia is based on Pew Research Center tabulations of the Census Bureau’s 2010 and 2018 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 1960-2000 decennial censuses.

The ACS is the largest household survey in the United States, with a sample of more than 3 million addresses. It covers the topics previously covered in the long form of the decennial census. The ACS is designed to provide estimates of the size and characteristics of the resident population, which includes persons living in households and group quarters. For more details about the ACS, including the sampling strategy and associated error, see the 2010 or 2018 American Community Survey’s Accuracy Statement provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The specific data sources for this statistical profile are the 1% samples of the 2010 and 2018 ACS Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) provided by the University of Minnesota, the 5% samples of the 1980-2000 decennial censuses, a merged 3% sample of the 1970 decennial census (Form 1), and the 1% samples of the 1960 decennial census. The IPUMS assigns uniform codes, to the extent possible, to data collected by the decennial census and the ACS from 1850 to 2018. For more information about the IPUMS, including variable definition and sampling error, please visit: https://usa.ipums.org/usa/doc.shtml.

Due to differences in the way in which the IPUMS and Census Bureau adjust income data and assign poverty status, data provided on these topics, which come from the IPUMS, might differ from data on these variables that are provided by the Census Bureau.

For the purposes of this statistical portrait, the foreign born include those persons who identified as naturalized citizens or non-citizens and are living in the 50 states or the District of Columbia. Persons born in Puerto Rico and other outlying territories of the U.S. and who are now living in the 50 states or the District of Columbia are included in the U.S.-born population.