The United States has more than 44 million immigrants, more than any other country in the world. The US immigrant population accounted for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants in 2017, statistics released by Pew Research Center indicate.
The US population of people born outside the country reach 44.4 million in 2017, a new record, and today immigrants account for 13.6% of the US population.
77% of the 44.4 million immigrants are in the US legally. 27% of immigrants were permanent residents in 2017, 5% were temporary residents (such as those on student or tourist visas), while 23% were unauthorized immigrants, Pew data shows. In total, there were 10.5 million unauthorized in 2017, down from a record high of 12.2 million in 2007.
Mexico has the highest number of immigrants living in the US. In 2017, 11.2 million immigrants in the US came from Mexico – accounting for 25% of all immigrants in the US. China, India, the Philippines and El Salvador followed with 6%, 6%, 5%, and 3% respectively of the immigrants living in the US.
According to Pew Research, 45% of all 44.4 million immigrants live in three states; California, Texas, and New York. A total of 10.6 million immigrants lived in California in 2017, roughly 24% of the state’s 39.4 million residents in 2017.
While immigrants as a whole have lower levels of education than US-born citizens, immigrants from South and East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa were more likely than US-born citizens to have a bachelor’s or an advanced degree.
In terms of labor force, immigrants made up some 17% of the total civilian labor force in the United States.