The Data Decoded — homepage
← All projects

· U.S. · Immigration

Where in the U.S. do most foreign-born nationals live?

Share of foreign-born nationals by U.S. county and change from 2009 to 2024

By Markos Tsinganis

The maps show where foreign-born residents live by county and how county shares changed over the period covered by the analysis. The third chart looks at how the foreign-born population is distributed across counties.

U.S. county map of the foreign-born share of residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey estimates, with several high-share counties annotated.
Chart 1 of 3View full-size chart ↗
U.S. county map comparing foreign-born population share in the 2005–2009 and 2020–2024 ACS estimates, with the largest increases and decreases annotated.
Chart 2 of 3View full-size chart ↗
Cumulative curve of U.S. counties by foreign-born resident share, showing that 94% of counties have a share below 15%, alongside a county map.
Chart 3 of 3View full-size chart ↗

Sources and methodology

The source is the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey five-year estimates, including table B05012, retrieved with tidycensus. The original chart notes that estimates have sampling variability and margins of error, especially in counties with smaller populations. The original Quarto analysis contains the county calculations and map preparation.