Note: A data release by the Census Bureau in December 2024 may affect estimates of the size of the immigrant population and the unauthorized immigrant population presented in this blog post. Read this box to learn more.
The number of immigrants living in the United States increased by roughly 1.6 million people in 2023. That marks the largest single-year increase in the nation’s immigrant population since 2000, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of recently published data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Updated Jan. 27, 2025, to reflect new Census Bureau estimates affecting the U.S. immigrant population.
Recently released Census Bureau population estimates show that immigrants have been underrepresented in official population estimates used for the 2022 and 2023 American Community Surveys (ACS). According to the bureau’s recent estimates, the U.S. population was larger than the ACS indicated by about 700,000 people in 2022 and almost 2 million, or roughly 0.6%, in 2023. Almost all of the additional people were immigrants, and based on the Census Bureau’s data sources, most would be considered unauthorized immigrants.
The bureau’s new estimates impact our 2022 unauthorized immigrant population estimates shown in this blog post. We are working to update our 2022 estimates and are producing new 2023 estimates consistent with the Census Bureau’s new estimates.
This Pew Research Center analysis examines the number and share of immigrants living in the United States and how these figures have changed over time. It is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and adjusts for changes in the bureau’s survey methodology over time. In this analysis, immigrants from China include people from Hong Kong but not people from Taiwan.
Overall, a record 47.8 million immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2023, up from 46.2 million in 2022. The nation’s immigrant population includes naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and lawful temporary residents, as well as unauthorized immigrants.
While the number of immigrants in the U.S. reached a new record high last year, their share of the population remained below the all-time peak. Immigrants accounted for 14.3% of the total U.S. population in 2023 – up roughly threefold from 4.7% in 1970, but still below the record high of 14.8% in 1890.
The U.S. has long been home to more immigrants than any other country. These immigrants hail from many places, but the most common origin nations as of 2023 were Mexico (10.9 million people, or 23% of the total), India (2.9 million, or 6%), China (2.4 million, or 5%) and the Philippines (2.1 million, or 4%).
When it comes to legal status, nearly three-quarters of immigrants living in the U.S. as of 2022 were naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents or lawful temporary residents. Around one-in-four (23%) were in the country without authorization.
- For a detailed analysis of the nation’s immigrant population and how it has changed over time, read our explainer: “What the data says about immigrants in the U.S.”
- For a closer look at the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population, specifically, read “What we know about unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.”
