The number of US residents born in other countries has hit its highest rate in more than a century — with hordes of migrants driving the foreign population boom, according to new US Census Bureau data.
The percentage of Americans born abroad soared to 14.3% in 2023 — up from 13.9% the previous year, according to American Community Survey stats reported by The New York Sun.
That rate hasn’t been that high since 1910, when it reached 14.7%, according to the outlet.
Migrants flocking to the US made up more than two-thirds of the population growth in 2023 — with many hailing from Latin American countries — and three-quarters of the nation’s total growth in the past decade, according to the data.
“We knew that here you can have savings, live well. Here you can have normal services such as water and electricity,” Luciana Bracho, who moved legally to Miami from Venezuela in April 2023, told the outlet.
“I like Miami and the opportunities that I have had.”
In total, the number of people coming from Latin America increased from 50.3 % in 2022 to 51.2 % in 2023, according to the survey, which also tracks employment, income and other topics.
Overall, the rate of US residents who identify as Hispanic jumped last year to 19.4% from 19.1 % in 2022, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, folks who identify as white plunged to 57.1% from 57.7% over the same time period. The share of Americans who identify as black also dropped slightly, to 12.1% from 12.2 %
States such as Delaware, Georgia and New Mexico had the biggest foreign-born population bumps while Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota saw slight decreases.
The rate of residents born abroad rose from 9.9% to 11.2 % in Delaware, increased from 10.7% to 11.6% in Georgia and grew from 9.3 % to 10.2% in New Mexico last year, according to the Census data.
