That means more than 1 out of every 6 people in the U.S. was an immigrant – that counts both legal and illegal immigration. This group also made up 1 in 5 workers in the United States.
Also, as of 2025, 42% of Americans were either foreign born or have at least one parent who is foreign born. Wow!
The foreign-born population is not distributed equally across the country:
In several of the states, the percent who are foreign born or who have at least one parent who is foreign born exceeds 50-60% of all residents.
This means several things:
- The % of Americans with close immigrant connections is huge. I had previously estimated this at up to 60% nationwide, particularly if we include those with at least one parent or grandparent who is an immigrant.
- Many of these immigrants likely have a right of descent ancestry privilege in other countries. Estimates range from 25-40+% of Americans may have an ancestry immigration privilege entitling them to dual citizenship in another country. Which is staggering.
I have an upcoming post on “heritage Americans” which is term used to describe persons who trace much or most of their ancestry back to the founding of the U.S. – predominantly white, English/Scottish, and Protestant backgrounds. This group today makes up 15-25% of the population is gradually shrinking due to the low fertility rates and the high inbound immigration rate into the U.S. “heritage Americans” are either a minority group or soon will be.