09 August 2004
More than 33 million born overseas, U.S. Census Bureau says
Almost 12 percent of the U.S. population was born in another country, most of them in Latin America, according to the latest findings from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The nation's foreign-born population is estimated to be 33.5 million, with slightly more than half from Latin America, 25 percent from Asia, 14 percent from Europe, and the remainder from other regions.
Most foreign-born residents live in the western region of the United States. This population segment is also young -- 45 percent are between ages 25 and 44.
Detailed tables on the findings are available at
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/ppl-174.html
The full report is available at http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/cps2003.html
Following is the text of the press release from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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U.S. Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
Bureau of the Census
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION REACHES 33 MILLION;
MOST FROM LATIN AMERICA, CENSUS BUREAU ESTIMATES
The U.S. Census Bureau today estimated that the nation's foreign-born population in 2003 numbered 33.5 million, or 12 percent of the total U.S. population.
Among the foreign-born population, 53 percent were born in Latin America, 25 percent in Asia, 14 percent in Europe and the remaining 8 percent in other regions of the world, such as Africa and Oceania. The 53 percent from Latin America consisted of 37 percent from Central America (including Mexico), 10 percent from the Caribbean and 6 percent from South America.
Other highlights from the report, The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2003 [PDF].
-- A plurality of foreign-born people live in the West (37 percent), while the South had the highest proportion of native residents (37 percent).
-- Forty-four percent of foreign-born people live in the central city of a metropolitan area, compared with 27 percent of natives.
-- The foreign-born population is comprised largely of young adults, with 45 percent between the ages of 25 and 44, compared with 27 percent of natives. In contrast, natives are considerably more likely than the foreign-born to be children under 18 (28 percent versus 9 percent).
-- Foreign-born households are larger than those of natives: 25 percent of family households with a foreign-born householder contain five or more people, compared with only 13 percent of those with a native householder.
-- Twenty-seven percent of the foreign-born age 25 and over had a bachelor's degree or higher education, not significantly different from the native population. Conversely, 22 percent had less than a ninth grade education, compared with 4 percent of the native population.
While foreign-born people age 25 and over were less likely than natives of the same age to have graduated from high school (67 percent versus 88 percent), there was wide variation based on region of birth. For example, the foreign-born from Asia and Europe had rates approaching those of natives (87 percent and 85 percent), and those from South America had rates about double those from Central America, including Mexico (79 percent and 38 percent).
-- Poverty rates in 2002 were higher for foreign-born people than for natives (17 percent compared with 12 percent). Among the foreign-born, these rates were highest among those from Central America (24 percent) and lowest among those from Europe (9 percent). The poverty rate of foreign-born naturalized citizens (10 percent) was closer to that of the native population (12 percent) than that of foreign-born people who were not U.S. citizens (21 percent).
Data in the report come from the Current Population Survey. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)