Immigrants driving growth in the US

Immigrants from Asia and other countries are keeping the United States population from stagnation. If not for immigration, the US population would have declined this year.

The US gained more than 1.6 million people in the past year, an increase driven by immigrants and a lower death rate, according to data released this week by the US Census Bureau. The total immigrant population grew by almost 30% between 2005 and 2022, climbing to just over 46 million people. Foreign-born Americans made up 13.9% of the US population in 2022, up 1.5 percentage points from 2005.

Immigration from Asia drove growth in Asian American communities last year, accounting for two-thirds of the 577,000-person increase in people who identify as Asian, including those who identify with more than one race. The 2.4% increase was the largest of any race or ethnic group, boosting Asian American population to 24.6 million

The county with the showing the most increase in the US is King County, Washington — home to Seattle — which added almost 21,500 Asian residents last year. 

There were more than 1.7 million Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in the U.S. last year, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year. Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, had the biggest increase, with almost 1,500 new residents. So many Native Hawaiians, seeking the high cost of living in their island state, were responsible for that growth.

With it's proximity to the US, Mexico provides the most immigrants, but the next three countries are India, China and the Philippines. In fact, five of the top ten countries are Asian countries.

Immigrants' top ten countries of origin

“Immigrant and refugee communities bring talent, culture and a set of skills that are needed in our community,” said Arrey Obenson, president and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis, which helps newcomers adapt to life in the US.

In the 2000 U.S. Census, the Federal Government defines “Asian American” to include persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” includes Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Guamanian or Chamorro, Fijian, Tongan, or Marshallese peoples and encompasses the people within the United States jurisdictions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The previous “Asian and Pacific Islander” (API) category was separated into “Asian Americans” and “Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders” (NHOPI).

The rise marked a bump of 0.5% as more states saw population gains than in any year since the start of the pandemic, bringing the US population to 334,914,895. While the increase is historically low, it’s higher than those seen in 2022 (0.4%) and 2021 (0.2%) when immigration slowed because of COVID-19.

The states that saw the largest growth in foreign-born residents over the five years were Texas, Florida, California and New Jersey.

The small growth in the white population was driven by Latinos, or Hispanics, who identified themselves as being white. Without the Hispanic Whites, the White population in the US would have shown a decrease.

Other highlights of the Census report:

• During the 2018-2022 period, there were an estimated 45.3 million foreign-born people in the United States; 13.7% of the nation’s total population.
• The foreign-born population rose by more than 5 million between the 2008-2012 (39.8 million) and 2018-2022 periods.
• The Foreign-born made up over a fifth of the state population in California (26.5%), New Jersey (23.2%), New York (22.6%) and Florida (21.1%) in 2018-2022.
• Florida, Texas, California and New Jersey had the largest numeric increases in the foreign-born population between 2008-2012 and 2018-2022.
• Almost half (49.1%) of all foreign-born people entered the United States before 2000, and more than half of all foreign-born people (52.3%) were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2018-2022.
• During the 2018-2022 period, an 18.7% share of the foreign-born population 25 years and older had a bachelor’s degree as their highest degree and 14.9% had a graduate or professional degree, compared to 21.4% and 13.1% of the native-born population 25 years and older.
• Nearly two-thirds (63.5%) of the foreign-born population 16 years and older were employed in the civilian labor force, and more than a third of the foreign-born U.S. civilian employed population (16 years and older) worked in management, business, science and arts occupations in 2018-2022.

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