Washington, D.C. (September 22, 2023) – Last week the Census Bureau posted the American Community Survey (ACS) showing a foreign-born population of 46.2 million as of July 2022 — an increase of nearly 900,000 since 2021.  However, the ACS is somewhat out of date, especially due to the ongoing surge in illegal immigration at the border.  The Bureau’s other large demographic surveys collected in 2023 show an even larger foreign-born population. The 2023 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), released at the same time as the ACS, shows the foreign-born at 48.8 million foreign-born residents in March 2023. Moreover, the monthly Current Public Survey (CPS), also collected by the Census Bureau and analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies, shows 49.5 million foreign-born residents as of August 2023.
Steven Camarota, the Center’s Director of Research and lead author of the new analysis, observed, “The latest data indicates that the foreign-born population has grown in an unprecedented fashion since the end of the pandemic, due largely to those allowed in from Afghanistan, Venezuela, and the on-going border crisis.”

About the size and growth of the foreign-born population:

• The 2022 American Community Survey (ACS), which reflects the population in July 2022, shows 46.2 million foreign-born residents (±150,000) living in the U.S. This is the largest foreign-born population the ACS has ever shown and an increase of nearly 900,000 over the 2021 ACS.⁵
• The 2023 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), which was also released last week, reflects the population in March of this year and shows 48.8 million foreign-born residents (±550,000). (Table A-1 in the Census Bureau’s health insurance report)
• Analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies of the public-use monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) for August 2023 shows 49.5 million foreign-born residents (±550,000).
• Although the 2022 ACS is somewhat out of date, the survey’s large size makes it possible to measure growth by individual immigrant-sending countries. The largest numerical increases in the last year were for immigrants from Afghanistan, up 284,000; India, up 130,000; Venezuela, up 122,000; China, up 79,000; Honduras, up 76,000; Colombia, up 73,000; Brazil, up 49,000; Canada, up 43,000; and Guatemala, up 42,000. (Table 1)
• The largest percentage increases from 2021 to 2022 by country were for Afghanistan, up 229 percent; Venezuela, up 22 percent; Honduras, Nepal, and Kenya, each up 10 percent; Ghana, Brazil, and Colombia, each up 9 percent; and Ethiopia and Ecuador, both up 8 percent. (Table 1)
• The large size of the ACS also makes it possible to measure growth in the foreign-born population by state. The largest numerical increases in the past year in immigrant populations were in Florida, up 209,000; Georgia, up 85,000; Texas, up 77,000; Maryland, up 51,000; North Carolina and Arizona, both up 47,000; New Jersey, up 46,000; Washington State, up 45,000; and Pennsylvania, up 40,000. (Table 2)
• The states with the largest percentage increases from 2021 to 2022 were West Virginia, up 16 percent; North Dakota, up 13 percent; Iowa, up 10 percent; Indiana and Arkansas, each up 9 percent; Alabama and Georgia, each up 8 percent; Montana, up 7 percent; and Tennessee and New Hampshire, each up 6 percent. (Table 2)