A Profile of the U.S. Foreign-Born Population

Kevin Deardorff

Chief, Immigration Statistics Staff

U.S. Census Bureau

Population Research Center (PRC) Briefing Washington, DC

December 9, 2003

Overview

• Immigration Statistics Staff

• Concepts and Data Sources

• Trends in the Foreign-Born Population

• Benefits of the American Community Survey

Mission -- Immigration Statistics Staff

Mission Statement

To provide up-to-date, relevant statistics and methodologies on the size, characteristics, and impact of international migration to (and from) the United States for use in policy-making decisions and demographic and economic research.

Concepts and Terminology

Foreign Born and Immigrant

• Foreign Born – Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth, including immigrants, legal nonimmigrants (temporary migrants), humanitarian migrants, and people illegally present in the United States.

• Immigrant – Aliens admitted to the U.S. for lawful permanent residence, as defined in the Immigration & Nationality Act.

Select U.S. Census Bureau Data Sources

• Current Population Survey (CPS)

• Decennial Census

• American Community Survey (ACS)

International Migration Items

• Place of Birth (Nativity)• Parental Nativity• U.S. Citizenship Status• Year of U.S. Entry• Previous Residence• Ancestry• Language Spoken at Home

National Quick Facts: 2000

Source: 1990 Census and Census 2000

1990 2000Total Population 249 million 281 millionTotal Foreign Born 20 million 31 million

Percent Foreign Born 8 percent 11 percent

National Quick Facts: 2002• In 2002, 32 million (12 percent of the U.S.

population) were foreign born.

• In 2002, 12 million (37 percent of the foreign born) were U.S. citizens through naturalization.

• 49 percent of the foreign born entered the U.S. between 1990 and 2002.

• Of the 32 million foreign born in 2002, 17 million were from Latin America.

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Percent Foreign Bornby World Region of Birth: 2002

Source: American Community Survey 2002

PercentTotal Foreign Born 100 Latin America 52 Asia 27 Europe 15 Africa 3 Other Regions 3

Percent Foreign Born by Year of Entry and Citizenship Status: 2002

Source: American Community Survey 2002

PercentTotal Foreign Born 100 Year of entry 1990 or later 47

Naturalized citizen 7

Not a citizen 40

Year of entry before 1990 53

Naturalized citizen 34

Not a citizen 19

Percent of Foreign Born Naturalized by Year of Entry: 2002 (In Percent)

81

67

45

13

Before 1970

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-2002

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Language Spoken at Home for the Foreign Born: 2002(Population 5 years and over)

Source: American Community Survey 2002

Percent

Total Foreign Born 100

Speak only English 17

Speak a language other than English 83

Speak Spanish 45

Speak Asian or Pacific Island languages 18

Speak other Indo-European languages 17

Speak other languages 3

English-Speaking Ability of Foreign Born Who Speak Spanish At Home: 2002(Population aged 5 and older)

Source: American Community Survey 2002

PercentSpeak Spanish 100

Speak English "very well" 29

Speak English "well" 21

Speak English "not well" 31

Speak English "not at all" 19

Regional Population Distribution for Native and Foreign-Born Populations: 2002 (In Percent)

38

28

11

23

21

37

24

18

West

South

Midwest

Northeast

Foreign Born Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Percent Foreign Born Within Each State: 2000

Source: Census 2000

Prepared with American FactFinder

Percent of Foreign Born Who Entered 1990 to 2000 by State: 2000

Prepared with American FactFinder

Source: Census 2000

Top Five States with the Highest Foreign-Born Population and Highest Rate of Change: 2000

California 9 million North Carolina 274%

New York 4 million Georgia 233%

Texas 3 million Nevada 202%

Florida 3 million Arkansas 196%

Illinois 2 million Utah 171%

Highest Number of Foreign Born 2000

Number

Highest Percent Change 1990-2000

Percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000

Top Five Places of 100,000 or More Population With the Highest Number of Foreign Born: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000

Place Total Foreign Born

New York, NY 2,871,000

Los Angeles, CA 1,513,000

Chicago, IL 629,000

Houston, TX 516,000

San Jose, CA 330,000

Top 5 Counties of 250,000 or More Population With the Highest Percent Foreign Born: 2002

Source: American Community Survey 2002

County Percent

Miami-Dade County, FL 51

Queens County, NY 47

Hudson County, NJ 39

Kings County, NY 38

San Francisco County, CA 37

8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8

Percent

Age Distribution by Sex for the Native and Foreign-Born Populations: 2002

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Native Foreign Born

8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8

0-4 5-9

10-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-74

75-7980+

Percent

Age

Male FemaleMale Female

Percent of Population Aged 18 to 64 by Place of Birth: 2002 (In Percent)

80

68

83 83

60

80

Total Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Foreign Born

Percent of Population with Less Than 9th Grade Completed by Place of Birth: 2002 (Population 25 years and over)

118

35

10

4

22

Total Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Foreign Born

Percent of Population with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher by Place of Birth: 2002(Population 25 years and over)

27

35

49

11

33

27

Total Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Foreign Born

Median Earnings of Year-Round, Full-Time Foreign-Born Workers by Place of Birth: 2001 (Population 15 years and over with earnings) (In dollars)

26,710

37,371 37,209

31,381

35,239

21,538

Total Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Foreign Born

Percent of Population Unemployed by Place of Birth: 2002 (Population 16 years and over in the civilian labor force)

5.7 5.67.9

6.6 6.16.9

Total Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Foreign Born

Percent of Population Below Poverty Level by Place of Birth: 2001 (In Percent)

16.1

10.0 11.1

20.6

13.211.1

Total Europe Asia LatinAmerica

OtherRegions

Native

Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Foreign Born

Benefits of the ACS

• Provides national and subnational detail

• Replaces the decennial Long Form

• Provides annually updated data for places of 65,000 or more, when fully implemented

• Allows more detailed information (e.g., geography, population groups and tabulation categories)

Benefits of the ACS (cont’d)

• Informs annual estimates of international migration component of official population estimates and projections

• Includes smaller standard errors than other federal surveys

• Encompasses wider coverage universe

• Maintains experienced professional staff

U.S. Government Data on International Migration and the Foreign Born

• U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign-Born Homepage:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign.html

• American FactFinder Homepage (Census, American Community

Survey, and Population Estimates Data):

http://www.factfinder.census.gov

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Immigration Statistics Homepage:

http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/aboutus/statistics/index.htm

Kevin DeardorffChief, Immigration Statistics Staff

U.S. Census Bureau

kevin.e.deardorff@census.gov

(301) 763-2411

Contact Information