Foreign immigration rose 14% in state in '22

“Why don't you write about foreign immigration?”

This is a typical response from readers when I write about California's interstate migration puzzle.

Readers, your wish is my command. But keep in mind what data the Census Bureau tracks when it comes to immigrants. The math analyzing population swings doesn't offer any hints as to whether new immigrants entered legally or not. These figures combine “U.S.born and non-U.S.-born populations” from other nations, plus Puerto Rico. The stats are tracked as net moves — arrivals minus departures. The count also includes relocations of military personnel.

Caveats noted, what does my trusty spreadsheet tell us about this measurement of population flow from outside the U.S. — looking at the year that ended in July 2022 versus the pre-pandemic pace of 2010-2019?

Well, California added 125,715 foreign immigrants last year. How big is that?

It's roughly the population of cities like Simi Valley or Clovis. And the inflow is on par with California's combined 2022 arrivals from Texas, Washington, New York and Florida.

No state took in more immigrants. And roughly 1 of every 8 U.S. arrivals from other nations in 2022 ended up in the Golden State.

By the way, No. 2 for immigrants was Florida at 125,629, followed by Texas at 118,614, New York at 77,923 and Massachusetts at 43,880.

And where didn't immigrants go last year? Wyoming had just 342, then Vermont's 1,012, North Dakota's 1,268, Mississippi's 1,593 and West Virginia's 1,773.

Growth story

This inflow pace has quickened.

California arrivals from other nations were 14% above the 2010-19 average, and that jump ranked just 30th among the states. Note that this immigration was up 19% nationally versus the pre-pandemic norm.

Where were the biggest jumps versus the past decade? Nevada was up 320%, then Montana at 162%, West Virginia at 144%, New Mexico at 105% and Maine at 102%.

The biggest declines were in Rhode Island, off 30%, then Mississippi, down 22%; Kentucky, down 18%,; Hawaii, down 11%; and Michigan, down 10%.

As for California's big rivals, Texas was 17th with a 34% jump and Florida was 37th at 5%.

Slices of the pie

Now let's put this population bump into another perspective — foreign immigration's slice of a state's population.

California's 2022 intake