FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2003Mike Bergman CB03-42 Public Information Office (301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax) (301) 457-1037 (TDD) Detailed tables 2001 Detailed tables 2000 revised Quotes & radio sound bites
Foreign-Born Population Surpasses 32 Million, Census Bureau Estimates
The Commerce Department's Census Bureau estimated today that the nation's foreign-born population last year numbered 32.5 million, accounting for 11.5 percent of the total U.S. population. Among the foreign-born population, 52 percent were born in Latin America, 26 percent in Asia, 14 percent in Europe and the remaining 8 percent in other regions of the world, such as Africa and Oceania. (See attached chart.) According to the report, The Foreign-Born Population in the United States, March 2002, the foreign-born are a diverse group, with variable demographic, social and economic characteristics depending on the region of birth. Some highlights: - People from Central America and Mexico made up more than two-thirds of the foreign-born from Latin America. They were concentrated in the West (55 percent) and the South (30 percent). - Among the foreign-born in 2002, nearly half had entered the United States since 1990. More than 1-in-3 foreign-born people were naturalized U.S. citizens. - People born in Asia and Europe had poverty rates similar to those of the native population, while the poverty rates for people from Central America were higher. - Foreign-born people are more likely to live in central cities of metropolitan areas 43 percent) than the native population (27 percent). - Relatively few foreign-born were less than 18 years of age (9 percent), compared with the native population (28 percent), because most of the children of foreign-born parents are natives. - Slightly more than 1-in-4 foreign-born persons had a bachelor's degree or more education, not significantly different from the native populaiton. More than one-fifth of the foreign-born had less than a ninth grade education, compared with about one-twentieth of the native population - The percentage of foreign-born workers in managerial or professional occupations ranged from a high of 40 percent for those from Asia (not significantly different for those from Europe or "other regions") to a low of about 7 percent for those from Central America. Data in the report come from the Current Population Survey. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.
Foreign-Born
People by Region of Birth: 2002
(in percent)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March 2002
Countries and Areas of Latin America |
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Anguilla | El Salvador | Peru |
Antigua and Barbuda | French Guiana | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
Argentina | Grenada | Saint Lucia |
Aruba | Guyana | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
Bahamas | Guadeloupe | Suriname |
Barbados | Guatemala | Trinidad and Tobago |
Belize | Guyana | Turks and Caicos Islands |
Bolivia | Haiti | Uruguay |
Brazil | Honduras | Venezuela |
Cayman Islands | Jamaica | Virgin Islands, British |
Chile | Martinique | |
Colombia | Mexico | |
Costa Rica | Montserrat | |
Cuba | Netherlands Antilles | |
Dominica | Nicaragua | |
Dominican Republic | Panama | |
Ecuador | Paraguay |