Foreign-Born Population in the United States Changed Significantly in Both Numbers and Countries of Origin

The first U.S. census was conducted in 1790, just 14 years after the nation’s founding. But it took another 60 years before the census asked every free person who lived in the United States where they were born.

Starting with the 1850 Census and every decade since, the U.S. Census Bureau has documented changes in the size and characteristics of the foreign-born population.

The foreign-born include those who were not U.S. citizens at birth, including naturalized U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (immigrants), temporary migrants (such as foreign-born students), humanitarian migrants (such as refugees and asylees), and unauthorized migrants.

Starting in 1920, the foreign-born share began to consistently decline, and by 1970 it accounted for only 4.7% of the population.

In 1850, the U.S. Census Board instructed U.S. marshals to ask free inhabitants to report their place of birth, identifying the state, territory or country where they were born (Figure 1).

At that time, the foreign-born population of 2.2 million — then defined as anyone born in a foreign country — made up 9.7% of the U.S. population.

Since the 1800s, the ways that surveys and censuses define and ask about nativity (whether a person was born a U.S. citizen) have undergone many changes.

Data on the foreign-born population was previously collected through a long form of the decennial census. Today, the American Community Survey (ACS) collects information about the foreign-born (Figure 2).

In addition to birthplace, the ACS also asks about citizenship status and year of entry into the United States.

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