1. 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
2. Overview
• Immigration Statistics Staff
• Concepts and Data Sources
• Trends in the Foreign-Born Population
• Benefits of the American Community Survey
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Select U.S. Census Bureau
Data Sources
• Current Population Survey (CPS)
• Decennial Census
• American Community Survey (ACS)
6. 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
7. National Quick Facts: 2000
1990 2000
Total Population 249 million 281 million
Total Foreign Born 20 million 31 million
Percent Foreign Born 8 percent 11 percent
Source: 1990 Census and Census 2000
8. 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
9. Percent Foreign Born
by World Region of Birth: 2002
Percent
Total Foreign Born 100
Latin America 52
Asia 27
Europe 15
Africa 3
Other Regions 3
Source: American Community Survey 2002
10. Percent Foreign Born by Year of Entry
and Citizenship Status: 2002
Percent
Total 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
Source: American Community Survey 2002
11. Percent of Foreign Born Naturalized
by Year of Entry: 2002
(In Percent)
81
67
45
13
1990-2002
1980-1989
1970-1979
Before 1970
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
12. Language Spoken at Home
for the Foreign Born: 2002
(Population 5 years and over)
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
Source: American Community Survey 2002
13. English-Speaking Ability of Foreign Born
Who Speak Spanish At Home: 2002
(Population aged 5 and older)
Percent
Speak Spanish 100
Speak English "very well" 29
Speak English "well" 21
Speak English "not well" 31
Speak English "not at all" 19
Source: American Community Survey 2002
14. Regional Population Distribution for Native
and Foreign-Born Populations: 2002
(In Percent)
38
28
11
23
21
37
24
18
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
Foreign Born Native
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
15. Percent Foreign Born Within Each State: 2000
Source: Census 2000
Prepared with American FactFinder
16. Percent of Foreign Born Who Entered
1990 to 2000 by State: 2000
Prepared with American FactFinder
Source: Census
2000
17. Top Five States with the Highest Foreign-Born
Population and Highest Rate of Change: 2000
Highest Number of Foreign Born 2000
Number
Highest Percent Change 1990-2000
Percent
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%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
18. Top Five Places of 100,000 or More Population
With the Highest Number of Foreign Born:
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
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000
19. Top 5 Counties of 250,000 or More Population
With the Highest Percent Foreign Born: 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
Source: American Community Survey 2002
20. Age Distribution by Sex for the Native and
Foreign-Born Populations: 2002
Native Foreign Born
Male Female Male Female
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
Percent
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8
Age
80+
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
Percent
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
21. Percent of Population Aged 18 to 64
by Place of Birth: 2002
(In Percent)
80
68
83 83
60
80
Total Europe Asia Latin
America
Other
Regions
Native
Foreign Born
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
22. Percent of Population with Less Than 9th
Grade Completed by Place of Birth: 2002
(Population 25 years and over)
11
8
35
10
4
22
Total Europe Asia Latin
America
Other
Regions
Native
Foreign Born
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
23. 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 Latin
America
Other
Regions
Native
Foreign Born
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
24. 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 Latin
America
Other
Regions
Native
Foreign Born
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
25. Percent of Population Unemployed
by Place of Birth: 2002
(Population 16 years and over in the civilian labor force)
6.9 7.9 6.6 6.1
5.7 5.6
Total Europe Asia Latin
America
Other
Regions
Native
Foreign Born
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
26. Percent of Population Below Poverty
Level by Place of Birth: 2001
(In Percent)
16.1
10.0 11.1
20.6
13.2
11.1
Total Europe Asia Latin
America
Other
Regions
Native
Foreign Born
Source: Current Population Survey, (2002) Annual Social and Economic Supplement
27. 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)
28. 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
29. 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
30. Contact Information
Kevin Deardorff
Chief, Immigration Statistics Staff
U.S. Census Bureau
kevin.e.deardorff@census.gov
(301) 763-2411
Editor's Notes
Other Surveys:
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
New York City Housing Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS)
American Housing Survey (AHS)
Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD)
National Prisoner Statistics (NPS)
National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG)
SOURCE:
P040. YEAR OF ENTRY BY CITIZENSHIP STATUS FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION - Universe: FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
CAUTION: The category “Speak a language other than English” is not in the original table– I created it by summing the specific-language-group categories (“speak Spanish”, etc). If this table needs to have only the categories originally published, simply delete the “Speak a language other than English” row. The other rows were pulled directly from the table (Ns, of course; no percents were given, so I had to calculate those).
SOURCE:
PCT020. Nativity by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over
NOTES:
Of the foreign born who do not speak “only English” at home, the majority (53.8%) speak Spanish.
[14,665,296 is 53.8% of 27,260,662]
SOURCE:
PCT020. Nativity by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over
NOTES:
50.2% of the foreign born (5 years and over) who speak Spanish at home speak English “well” or “very well”
49.8% speak English “not well” or “not at all”
In 2000, Illinois foreign-born population is 1.5 million – which rounds to 2 million
SOURCE:
ACS 2002 ranking table at http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Ranking/2002/R15T050.htm
NOTES:
This was the only ranking table with a nativity-related variable.
Relatively few foreign-born people are under age 20 (11.8 percent of the foreign-born population is 0-19 years of age) compared with 30.7 percent of the native population.
The foreign born are more likely than natives to be 18 to 64 years of age.
The largest percentage of foreign born are in the 30-34 age group.
Foreign Born: 26 million (26,105,000)
Europe: 3 million (3,105,000)
Asia: 7 million (6,852,000)
Latin America: 14 million (14,001,000)
Other Regions: 2 million (2,147,000)
Native: 150 million (149,580,000)
Cost, workload, and respondent burden are spread out over ten years
More categories for Year of Entry and Place of Birth.
County-level geography
Includes American Indian and Alaska Native Areas
Change in number of Foreign Born, Year of Entry data, previous residence data.
