United States Immigration Statistics

The 1850 United States census was the first federal U.S. census to query about the "nativity" of citizens—where they were born, either in the United States or outside of it—and is thus the first point at which solid statistics become available. From the U.S. Census, this chart shows the place of birth of the non-native population. Note that the same immigrant will be counted in each census during which they lived, so the numbers are of the cumulative number of living non-native citizens.

Region and Country or Area of Birth of the Foreign-Born Population, With Geographic Detail Shown in Decennial Census
Region and country or area 1990 1980 1970 1960 1950 1920 1910 1900 1890 1880 1870 1860 1850
Total 19,767,316 14,079,906 9,619,302 9,738,091 14,204,149 13,920,692 13,515,886 10,341,276 9,249,547 6,679,943 5,567,229 4,138,697 2,244,602
Reported by region and/or country 18,959,158 13,192,563 9,303,570 9,678,201 14,197,553 13,911,767 13,506,272 10,330,534 9,243,535 6,675,875 5,563,637 4,134,809 2,202,625
Europe 4,350,403 5,149,572 5,740,891 7,256,311 11,784,010 11,916,048 11,810,115 8,881,548 8,030,347 5,751,823 4,941,049 3,807,062 2,031,867
Northern and Western Europe 2,058,853 2,384,257 2,629,200 3,334,971 5,850,256 6,241,916 7,306,325 7,204,649 7,288,917 5,499,889 4,845,679 3,773,347 2,022,195
Northern Europe 968,271 1,083,499 1,271,591 1,694,430 3,415,551 3,501,149 3,953,947 3,917,815 4,056,160 3,212,431 2,867,926 2,271,661 1,358,887
British Isles 809,972 866,966 937,474 1,171,777 2,147,733 2,172,723 2,573,534 2,783,082 3,122,911 2,772,169 2,626,241 2,199,079 1,340,812
United Kingdom 640,145 669,149 686,099 833,055 1,402,923 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)
Great Britain 623,614 649,318 645,262 764,893 1,224,091 1,135,489 1,221,283 1,167,623 1,251,402 917,598 770,414 587,775 379,093
England 405,588 442,499 458,114 528,205 809,563 813,853 877,719 840,513 908,141 662,676 550,924 431,692 278,675
Scotland 104,168 142,001 170,134 213,219 354,323 254,570 261,076 233,524 242,231 170,136 140,835 108,518 70,550
Wales 10,638 13,528 17,014 23,469 60,205 67,066 82,488 93,586 100,079 83,302 74,533 45,763 29,868
Great Britain n.e.c. 103,220 51,290 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 951 1,484 4,122 1,802 (NA)
Northern Ireland 16,531 19,831 40,837 68,162 178,832 (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)
Ireland 169,827 197,817 251,375 338,722 744,810 1,037,234 1,352,251 1,615,459 1,871,509 1,854,571 1,855,827 1,611,304 961,719
Nordic countries 158,299 216,533 334,117 522,653 1,267,818 1,328,426 1,380,413 1,134,733 933,249 440,262 241,685 72,582 18,075
Denmark 34,999 42,732 61,410 85,060 179,474 189,154 181,649 153,690 132,543 64,196 30,107 9,962 1,838
Finland 22,313 29,172 45,499 67,624 142,478 149,824 129,680 62,641 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Iceland 5,071 4,156 2,895 2,780 2,764 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Norway 42,240 63,316 97,243 152,698 347,852 363,863 403,877 336,388 322,665 181,729 114,246 43,995 12,678
Sweden 53,676 77,157 127,070 214,491 595,250 625,585 665,207 582,014 478,041 194,337 97,332 18,625 3,559
Western Europe 1,090,582 1,300,758 1,357,609 1,640,541 2,434,705 2,740,767 3,352,378 3,286,834 3,232,757 2,287,458 1,977,753 1,501,686 663,308
Low countries 132,617 142,748 155,513 173,069 206,375 207,038 172,534 127,719 107,349 86,461 65,157 37,353 11,161
Belgium 34,366 36,487 41,412 50,294 64,194 62,687 49,400 29,757 22,639 15,535 12,553 9,072 1,313
Luxembourg 2,053 3,125 3,531 4,360 9,048 12,585 3,071 3,031 2,882 12,836 5,802 (NA) (NA)
Netherlands 96,198 103,136 110,570 118,415 133,133 131,766 120,063 94,931 81,828 58,090 46,802 28,281 9,848
Austria 87,673 145,607 214,014 304,507 370,914 575,627 626,341 275,907 123,271 38,663 30,508 25,061 946
France 119,233 120,215 105,385 111,582 135,592 153,072 117,418 104,197 113,174 106,971 116,402 109,870 54,069
Germany 711,929 849,384 832,965 989,815 1,608,814 1,686,108 2,311,237 2,663,418 2,784,894 1,966,742 1,690,533 1,276,075 583,774
Switzerland 39,130 42,804 49,732 61,568 113,010 118,659 124,848 115,593 104,069 88,621 75,153 53,327 13,358
Other Western Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 263 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Southern and Eastern Europe 2,285,513 2,748,547 3,090,991 3,907,020 5,918,982 5,670,927 4,500,932 1,674,648 728,851 248,620 93,824 32,312 9,672
Southern Europe 1,054,141 1,336,805 1,363,195 1,541,441 2,133,092 1,939,600 1,544,149 539,968 216,387 66,249 30,416 21,726 8,152
Greece 177,398 210,998 177,275 159,167 174,526 175,976 101,282 8,515 1,887 776 390 328 86
Italy 580,592 831,922 1,008,533 1,256,999 1,790,429 1,610,113 1,343,125 484,027 182,580 44,230 17,157 11,677 3,679
Portugal 210,122 209,968 119,899 80,276 108,775 103,976 77,634 40,376 25,735 15,650 8,973 5,477 1,274
Azores 29,656 32,531 28,865 22,586 35,611 33,995 18,274 9,768 9,739 7,512 4,431 1,361 (NA)
Portugal 180,466 177,437 91,034 57,690 73,164 69,981 59,360 30,608 15,996 8,138 4,542 4,116 1,274
Spain 76,415 73,735 57,488 44,999 59,362 49,535 22,108 7,050 6,185 5,121 3,764 4,244 3,113
Other Southern Europe 9,614 10,182 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 472 132 (NA) (NA)
Eastern Europe 1,231,372 1,411,742 1,727,796 2,365,579 3,785,890 3,731,327 2,956,783 1,134,680 512,464 182,371 63,408 10,586 1,520
Albania 5,627 7,381 9,180 9,618 8,814 5,608 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Bulgaria 8,579 8,463 8,609 8,223 9,399 10,477 11,498 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Czechoslovakia 87,020 112,707 160,899 227,618 491,638 362,438 219,214 156,891 118,106 85,361 40,289 (NA) (NA)
Estonia 9,210 12,169 12,163 13,991 3,550 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Hungary 110,337 144,368 183,236 245,252 274,450 397,283 495,609 145,714 62,435 11,526 3,737 (NA) (NA)
Latvia 26,179 34,349 41,707 50,681 20,673 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Lithuania 29,745 48,194 76,001 121,475 193,606 135,068 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Poland 388,328 418,128 548,107 747,750 1,268,583 1,139,979 937,884 383,407 147,440 48,557 14,436 7,298 (NA)
Romania 91,106 66,994 70,687 84,575 146,393 102,823 65,923 15,032 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Soviet Union 333,725 406,022 463,462 690,598 1,153,628 1,400,495 1,184,412 423,726 182,644 35,722 4,644 3,160 1,414
Turkey in Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 2,257 5,284 32,230 9,910 1,839 1,205 302 128 106
Yugoslavia 141,516 152,967 153,745 165,798 211,416 169,439 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Other Eastern Europe (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 1,483 2,433 10,013 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Europe n.e.c. 6,037 16,768 20,700 14,320 14,772 3,205 2,858 2,251 12,579 3,314 1,546 1,403 (NA)
Asia 4,979,037 2,539,777 824,887 490,996 275,665 237,950 191,484 120,248 113,383 107,630 64,565 36,796 1,135
Armenia (X) (X) (X) (X) 32,166 36,628 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
China 529,837 286,120 172,132 99,735 46,129 43,560 56,756 81,534 106,688 104,468 63,042 35,565 758
India 450,406 206,087 51,000 12,296 5,850 4,901 4,664 2,031 2,143 1,707 586 (NA) (NA)
Japan 290,128 221,794 120,235 109,175 70,993 81,502 67,744 24,788 2,292 401 73 (NA) (NA)
Palestine 21,070 (NA) (NA) (NA) 6,137 3,203 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Syria 36,782 22,081 14,962 16,717 57,227 51,901 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Turkey in Asia 55,087 51,915 48,085 52,228 46,654 11,019 59,729 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Other Asia 3,595,727 1,751,780 418,473 200,845 10,509 5,236 2,591 11,895 2,260 1,054 864 1,231 377
Africa 363,819 199,723 80,143 35,355 18,326 16,126 3,992 2,538 2,207 2,204 2,657 526 551
Africa excl. Atlantic Islands 349,451 189,266 61,463 27,053 8,859 5,781 3,992 2,538 2,207 2,204 2,657 526 551
Atlantic Islands 14,368 10,457 18,680 8,302 9,467 10,345 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Oceania 104,145 77,577 41,258 34,730 17,343 14,626 11,450 8,820 9,353 6,859 4,028 2,140 588
Australia 42,267 36,120 24,271 22,209 12,816 10,914 9,035 6,807 5,984 4,906 3,118 1,419 (NA)
Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) 1,304 1,147 584 435 588
Other Oceania 61,878 41,457 16,987 12,521 4,527 3,712 2,415 2,013 2,065 806 326 286 (NA)
Latin America 8,407,837 4,372,487 1,803,970 908,309 791,840 588,843 279,514 137,458 107,307 90,073 57,871 38,315 20,773
Caribbean 1,938,348 1,258,363 675,108 193,922 106,241 78,962 47,635 25,435 23,256 16,401 11,570 7,353 5,772
Cuba 736,971 607,814 439,048 79,150 18,493 14,872 15,133 11,081 (NA) 6,917 5,319 (NA) (NA)
Other Caribbean 1,201,377 650,549 236,060 114,772 87,748 64,090 32,502 14,354 (NA) 9,484 6,251 (NA) (NA)
Central America 5,431,992 2,553,113 873,624 624,851 651,976 491,330 223,651 107,290 79,045 69,106 42,736 27,699 13,458
Mexico 4,298,014 2,199,221 759,711 575,902 641,462 486,418 221,915 103,393 77,853 68,399 42,435 27,466 13,317
Other Central America 1,133,978 353,892 113,913 48,949 10,514 4,912 1,736 3,897 1,192 707 301 233 141
South America 1,037,497 561,011 255,238 89,536 33,623 18,551 8,228 4,733 5,006 4,566 3,565 3,263 1,543
Northern America 753,917 853,427 812,421 952,500 1,310,369 1,138,174 1,209,717 1,179,922 980,938 717,286 493,467 249,970 147,711
Canada 744,830 842,859 812,421 952,500 1,310,369 1,138,174 1,209,717 1,179,922 980,938 717,157 493,464 249,970 147,711
Canada-French (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 370,852 307,786 385,083 395,126 302,496 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Canada-Other (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 915,537 817,139 819,554 784,796 678,442 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Newfoundland (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 23,980 13,249 5,080 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
Other Northern America 9,087 10,568 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 129 3 (NA) (NA)
Region or country not reported 808,158 887,343 315,732 59,890 6,596 8,925 9,614 10,742 6,012 4,068 3,592 3,888 41,977
Born at sea (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 5,008 5,336 6,927 8,196 5,533 4,068 2,638 2,522 (NA)
Not reported (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA) 1,588 3,589 2,687 2,546 479 (NA) 954 1,366 41,977

(NA) Not available.
n.e.c. Not elsewhere classified.
1/ Prior to 1980, Taiwan included with China.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Publications of 1930 or Earlier: 1850 to 1930 and 1960 to 1990

Immigration to the United States and related topics
Relevant U.S. and international laws
  • Naturalization Act (1790)
  • Naturalization Act (1795)
  • Naturalization Act (1798)
  • Naturalization Law (1802)
  • 14th Amendment (1868)
  • Naturalization Act (1870)
  • Page Act (1875)
  • Chinese Exclusion (1882)
  • Naturalization Act (1906)
  • Gentlemen's Agreement (1907)
  • Asian Barred Zone (1917)
  • Emergency Quota Act (1921)
  • Immigration Act (1924)
  • Tydings–McDuffie Act (1934)
  • Filipino Repatriation Act (1935)
  • Bracero Program (1942–64)
  • Magnuson Act (1943)
  • War Brides (1945)
  • Luce-Celler (1946)
  • UN Refugee Convention (1951)
  • INS Act (1952)
  • INS Act (1965)
  • Refugee Act of 1980
  • IRCA (1986)
  • American Homecoming (1989)
  • Immigration Act (1990)
  • IIRIRA (1996)
  • NACARA (1997)
  • REAL ID Act (2005)
  • Secure Fence Act (2006)
Visas and policies
  • U.S. Visas
  • US-VISIT
  • Security Advisory Opinion
  • E-Verify
  • 287(g)
Government organizations
  • Depart. of Homeland Security
  • Immigration and Customs Enforcement
  • U.S. Border Patrol
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • INS
  • Board of Immigration Appeals
Related Supreme Court cases
  • United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)
  • United States v. Brignoni-Ponce (1975)
  • Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting (2011)
Related issues and events
  • Economic impact
  • Guest worker program
  • Human trafficking
  • Human smuggling
  • Immigration reform
  • Immigration reduction
  • Labor shortage
  • March for America
  • Population
  • Reverse immigration
  • 2006 protests
  • List of people deported from the U.S.
  • US-Mexico border
Proposed legislation
  • DREAM Act (2001–2010)
  • H.R. 4437 (2005)
  • McCain-Kennedy (2005)
  • SKIL (2006)
  • S. 2611 (2006)
  • STRIVE Act (2007)
  • Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (2007)
  • Uniting American Families Act (2000–2011)
Immigration stations
  • Ellis Island
  • Angel Island
Operations
  • Wetback (1954)
  • Peter Pan (1960–62)
  • Babylift (1975)
  • Gatekeeper (1994)
  • Endgame (2003–2012)
  • Front Line (2004–2005)
  • Return to Sender (2006–2007)
State Legislation
  • CA DREAM Act (2006–2010)
  • Arizona SB 1070 (2010)
  • Alabama HB 56 (2011)
Non-government organizations
  • Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A.
  • Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
  • National Immigration Forum
  • Center for Community Change
  • We Are America Alliance
  • CASA of Maryland
  • Mexica Movement
  • Mexicans Without Borders
  • Federation for American Immigration Reform
  • Minuteman Project
  • Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
  • California Coalition for Immigration Reform
  • Save Our State
  • Center for Immigration Studies
  • NAKASEC
  • NumbersUSA
  • Negative Population Growth
  • Migration Policy Institute
  • Utah Compact

Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, immigration and/or statistics:

    “It was evident that, both on account of the feudal system and the aristocratic government, a private man was not worth so much in Canada as in the United States; and, if your wealth in any measure consists in manliness, in originality and independence, you had better stay here. How could a peaceable, freethinking man live neighbor to the Forty-ninth Regiment? A New-Englander would naturally be a bad citizen, probably a rebel, there,—certainly if he were already a rebel at home.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “We now in the United States have more security guards for the rich than we have police services for the poor districts. If you’re looking for personal security, far better to move to the suburbs than to pay taxes in New York.”
    —John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)

    “... no young colored person in the United States today can truthfully offer as an excuse for lack of ambition or aspiration that members of his race have accomplished so little, he is discouraged from attempting anything himself. For there is scarcely a field of human endeavor which colored people have been allowed to enter in which there is not at least one worthy representative.”
    —Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954)

    “America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts.”
    —James Madison (1751–1836)

    “We ask for no statistics of the killed,
    For nothing political impinges on
    This single casualty, or all those gone,
    Missing or healing, sinking or dispersed,
    Hundreds of thousands counted, millions lost.”
    —Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)