Immigrants account for US population growth

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

After a historically low rate of change between 2020 and 2021, the U.S. resident population increased by 0.4%, or 1,256,003, to 333,287,557 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2022 national and state population estimates and components of change released Dec. 22.

Immigrants appears to have driven much of the growth reversing a trend that began at the beginning of the pandemic.

"There was a sizeable uptick in population growth last year compared to the prior year’s historically low increase,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau. “A rebound in net international migration, coupled with the largest year-over-year increase in total births since 2007, is behind this increase.”

Net international migration — the number of people moving in and out of the country — added 1,010,923 people between 2021 and 2022 and was the primary driver of growth. This represents 168.8% growth over 2021 totals of 376,029 – an indication that migration patterns are returning to pre-pandemic levels. Positive natural change (births minus deaths) increased the population by 245,080.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia saw positive net international migration with California (125,715), Florida (125,629) and Texas (118,614) having the largest gains.

For the third straight year, California shows a decline in population created mainly by domestic migration; people leaving the state to other states. 

Between July 2021 and July 2022, the number of Californians dropped from 39,142,991 to 39,029,342 — a loss of about 114,000 people, the new data shows. There were more births than deaths in the state, and 125,715 immigrants made their homes here in that one-year span. Most of the population decline was explained by the 343,230 people who moved to other U.S. states.

Florida was the fastest growing state with a population increase of 1.9% to 22,244,823 between 2021 and 2022.

Despite the population decline, California is still the most populous state with 39,029,342 residents, far more than the second most populous state, Texas, which has only 30,029,572.

Although the Census Bureau did not state the countries of origin for 2022's immigrants, according to Pew Research Center estimates, Asia is the second-largest region of birth for U.S. immigrants, after the Americas, and since 2013 India and China have been the leading origin countries, displacing Mexico. Looking forward, arrivals from Asia are projected to comprise a greater share of all immigrants, becoming the largest foreign-born group by 2055. 

During 2023, the Census Bureau will release estimates of the 2022 population for counties, cities and towns, and metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, as well as national, state and county population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin.

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AAPI families would rather go hungry than go out to buy groceries because of hate and pandemic fears

Fear overrides hunger for many Asian Americans

By Daniel J. Perez-Lopez and Lindsay M. Monte 

Census Bureau

Fear of the coronavirus and the possibility of an unprovoked hate rime is overriding hunger for many Asian American households, according to the Census Bureau.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) were twice as likely as non-Hispanic White populations to report not having enough to eat amid the pandemic because they were “afraid to go or didn’t want to go out to buy food,” according to a new analysis by the Census. 

All major race and Hispanic origin groups reported being more likely to experience food insufficiency because of the pandemic in April 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS).

The non-Hispanic, or AAPI population has generally followed the same trend as the non-Hispanic White population through March: consistently lower rates of food insufficiency than both the non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations.

But the causes of food shortages for non-Hispanic Asian and non-Hispanic White households differed.

Why People Did Not Have Enough to Eat

There are many reasons someone may experience food insufficiency, defined as sometimes or often not having enough to eat. The most prevalent is the inability to afford food. But during the pandemic, there were other reasons people were unable to access food.

Of adults who reported food insufficiency in the previous week, the survey asked for the reason. The question offered a choice of responses, ranging from couldn’t afford it and couldn’t get out to buy it, to too afraid or didn’t want to go out, couldn’t get groceries delivered and stores didn’t have what I wanted.

At the end of March, non-Hispanic Asian respondents experiencing food insufficiency were less likely than food insufficient non-Hispanic White respondents to report that they couldn’t afford food, couldn’t get groceries delivered or that stores were poorly stocked.

These households were not significantly different in their likelihood of reporting that they were unable to get to the store.

However, non-Hispanic Asian respondents were much more likely than non-Hispanic White respondents to report going without food because they were afraid or didn’t want to go out to buy it.

Other than the question about fear of going to the store, the HPS did not collect the reasons for the fear that people reported was keeping them from getting the food they need.

There could be many reasons including living in a high-crime area, in food deserts where shopping is inconvenient or in rural towns where drives are long.

Respondents might also face other fears such as racially motivated violence. For example, according to the Department of Justice, anti-Asian violence has risen during the pandemic, including several well-publicized hate crimes.

This may explain why, while fear of going out for food among non-Hispanic White adults declined between the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, fear among non-Hispanic Asian adults did not.

However, as coronavirus has killed more than 600,000 people across the United States and infected over 34 million, there is also reason to think that fear of illness would keep people home from grocery stores.

Vaccination Rates

While fear of the deadly virus may be keeping some home from the grocery store, it may also explain the higher vaccination rates among Asians in the United States.

In January, as vaccines began to be widely distributed, the HPS added questions asking whether people had received at least one dose of a vaccine or were planning to get it once available.

Comparing those who in late March had received the vaccine or reported they definitely will get the vaccine, AAPI respondents were more likely (85.6%) than non-Hispanic White (73.1%), non-Hispanic Black (63.6%) or Hispanic respondents (70.3%) to report they’d gotten at least one shot or definitely would when the vaccine was available to them.

As vaccines continue to become more readily available, the HPS will allow us to see whether increased access addresses any of the fears that respondents have reported thus far.

Daniel J. Perez-Lopez and Lindsay M. Monte are statisticians in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division.

Asian Americans most accepting of the COVID19 vaccination

SCREEN CAPTURE

Vice President Kamala Harris receives the second COVID-19 vaccine.

Asian Americans are the most likely group to seek a vaccination against COVID-19. 

The US Census Bureau released data Wednesday that showed that almost 91% of the Asian Americans surveyed were likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when the shots become available. The data showed that 66% of Asan Americans wold "definitely" get the vaccine and 25.4% would "probably" get the shot in the arm.

Whites were. the next group most likely to receive a vaccine with 55.5% would definitely get the shot and 22.9% would probably get the jab when they become available.

Only 47.3% of Hispanics or Latinos would definitely get the vaccine and almost 33% would probably get the shot.

Blacks were the most skeptical or resistant to getting the vaccine. Only 29.6% would definitely get the vaccine and 33.8% would probably get the shot. 

Overall, about 8% of American adults reported they had received a COVID-19 vaccination and around half of adults who haven’t (51%) indicated they would definitely get a vaccine, while an additional 26% said they probably would, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Wednesday.

The latest revision to Phase 3 of the Household Pulse Survey was implemented on Jan. 6, 2021, and included a new series of questions about COVID-19 vaccinations and attitudes toward the vaccines.

Adults who have not been vaccinated are asked if they plan to get a vaccine once available. Respondents who express uncertainty are asked the reason(s) for their reluctance.

These data show:

• About 95% of the estimated 19 million who reported receiving a COVID-19 vaccination said they had received or plan to receive all required doses.
• Around half (51%) of the approximately 226 million adults yet to receive a vaccination said they “definitely” plan to receive it when available (Figure 1).
• An additional 26% of adults yet to be vaccinated reported they would “probably” get a vaccine once available, compared to approximately 14% who said they would “probably not,” and 10% who said they would “definitely not” get vaccinated. Overall, these results indicate that around a quarter of all unvaccinated adults will probably not, or will definitely not, receive a COVID-19 vaccine once one is available to them.