One-in-Five New Rural Americans is Foreign-Born

Over 11 million new residents moved to rural and mixed-rural* counties across the United States since 2000. Of the 11 million, 2.3 were foreign-born. That means that one-in-five new rural Americans are immigrants.

Below, the numbers are broken down by state. Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania have notably large proportions of foreign-born new rural residents.

	New Residents	New Foreign Born Residents	% Foreign Born
Alabama	263,394	55,162	21%
Alaska	100,473	12,531	12%
Arizona	510,677	74,740	15%
Arkansas	221,261	45,970	21%
California	1,853,161	568,990	31%
Colorado	344,344	41,900	12%
Connecticut	16,039	3,765	23%
Delaware	77,131	8,901	12%
Florida	844,683	162,146	19%
Georgia	427,232	51,993	12%
Hawaii	72,134	14,490	20%
Idaho	121,838	13,213	11%
Illinois	81,734	39,233	48%
Indiana	78,688	23,308	30%
Iowa	57,348	27,657	48%
Kansas	16,403	12,588	77%
Kentucky	156,904	19,928	13%
Louisiana	137,727	27,291	20%
Maine	37,630	2,046	5%
Maryland	72,552	12,651	17%
Massachusetts	4,734	5,778	>100%
Michigan	20,825	14,642	70%
Minnesota	196,027	26,971	14%
Mississippi	70,116	20,131	29%
Missouri	245,465	25,602	10%
Montana	88,590	3,103	4%
Nebraska**	-11,595	10,866	>100%
Nevada	703,220	200,979	29%
New Hampshire	31,853	4,060	13%
New Jersey	18,576	10,010	54%
New Mexico	130,995	26,125	20%
New York	48,455	29,348	61%
North Carolina	622,111	91,662	15%
North Dakota	34,053	4,922	14%
Ohio	86,343	12,616	15%
Oklahoma	149,784	23,906	16%
Oregon	252,129	41,033	16%
Pennsylvania	70,634	24,978	35%
Rhode Island***	NA	NA	NA
South Carolina	299,405	51,786	17%
South Dakota	61,027	7,993	13%
Tennessee	386,993	41,511	11%
Texas	917,136	210,358	23%
Utah	297,148	27,177	9%
Vermont	16,671	2,040	12%
Virginia	275,448	38,470	14%
Washington	281,342	47,893	17%
West Virginia	19,369	3,359	17%
Wisconsin	165,228	25,019	15%
Wyoming	69,021	6,775	10%
All States	11,042,456	2,257,616	20%

Data notes

* Figures calculated by comparing the 2000 Census and the 2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Population Estimates and using county rural, mixed-rural, mixed-urban, and urban designations developed by A. Isserman. Margins of error were excluded so figures should be taken as rough approximations.

** Nebraska had a declining rural/mixed-rural population. As a result, it is impossible to say that foreign-born residents accounted for any of the “increase” in the state’s rural/mixed-rural population. However, the rural/mixed-rural decline was smaller because of a large increase in the foreign-born population in the state.

*** Rhode Island has no counties that are classified as “rural” or “mixed-rural” according to the measures of Andrew Isserman.