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While Mexicans remain the largest group of immigrants in the United States, accounting for about 24 percent of the 45.3 million foreign-born residents in the country as of 2021, their numbers have been shrinking for more than a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have slowed this decline somewhat. And the public-health crisis also may have played a role in returning Mexicans to the top nationality for new arrivals, outpacing those from China and India for the first time in several years.
In 2021, there were about 10.7 million Mexican-born individuals living in the United States. Despite the continued popularity of the United States as a destination, the Mexican immigrant population decreased by about 1 million people (or 9 percent) between 2010 and 2021. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of Mexicans leaving the United States outpaced the number of new arrivals, although this trend later reversed, according to Pew Research Center estimates, with the number of returns to Mexico falling.
For several years starting in 2013 Mexico ceased to be the top country of origin for new immigrants to the United States, overtaken by India and China. However, recent data suggest that during the pandemic Mexicans have again become the largest new immigrant group, amid widespread restrictions on mobility particularly for people traveling long distances. Among U.S. foreign-born residents who in 2021 reported that they lived abroad a year before, 96,000 were Mexican as compared to 76,000 Indians and 56,000 immigrants from mainland China.
Mexicans also received the largest number of overall nonimmigrant visas—including, in particular, temporary worker visas—ahead of China and India in both fiscal year (FY) 2020 and FY 2021. Similarly, Mexicans are the top recipients of lawful permanent residence (also referred as obtaining a green card): 107,200 Mexicans received a green card in FY 2021, compared to 93,500 from India and 49,800 from mainland China. Most Mexican receiving lawful permanent residence in FY 2021 already lived in the United States and were adjusting from another status; just 34,900 had applied from outside the United States.
Figure 1. Mexican Immigrant Population in the United States, 1980-2021
Sources: Data from U.S. Census Bureau 2010 and 2021 American Community Surveys (ACS), and Campbell J. Gibson and Kay Jung, "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850-2000" (Working Paper no. 81, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2006), available online.
Click here to view an interactive chart showing the number of Mexican immigrants and their share of all U.S. immigrants over time.
Mexicans also account for the largest group of unauthorized immigrants: 48 percent of the total 11 million people in 2019, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). Although the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico has been on the decline, this trend may have shifted due in part to effects of the pandemic. As inflation increases in Mexico, climbing to a 21-year high in August 2022, more Mexicans have headed to the U.S. border. In FY 2020, for the first time in five years, Mexicans accounted for more than half of all encounters recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the number of encounters of Mexicans at the border in FY 2022 reached its highest point since FY 2007.
The United States is overwhelmingly the most popular destination for Mexicans living abroad, accounting for 97 percent of all Mexican emigrants. In fact, 8 percent of all people born in Mexico lived in the United States as of 2020. Canada is home to the next largest population of Mexicans (87,000), followed by Spain (61,000), Germany (20,000), and Guatemala (19,000), according to mid-2020 United Nations Population Division estimates.
Click here to view an interactive map showing where migrants from Mexico and other countries have settled worldwide.
Within the United States, almost 60 percent of Mexican immigrants live in California or Texas. Most Mexican immigrants are not U.S. citizens, and those who gained permanent resident status in FY 2021 mainly did so via family sponsorship. Compared to both the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations, Mexican immigrants have lower levels of educational attainment and lower household incomes. They also tend to have lived in the United States for longer than all immigrants and are more likely to be in the labor force than U.S.-born adults.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau (the most recent 2021 American Community Survey [ACS], the 2019 ACS, and pooled 2015-19 ACS data), the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics, the World Bank, and MPI, this Spotlight provides information on the Mexican immigrant population in the United States, focusing on its size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.
Mexican Immigrants in the United States
Mexicans are by far the largest immigrant group in the United States, accounting for nearly one-fourth of all immigrants. However their numbers have been declining and in 2021 there were 1 million fewer than a decade ago. At the same time, despite years in which more new migrants came from China...
While Mexicans remain the largest group of immigrants in the United States, accounting for about 24 percent of the 45.3 million foreign-born residents in the country as of 2021, their numbers have been shrinking for more than a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have slowed this decline somewhat. And the public-health crisis also may have played a role in returning Mexicans to the top nationality for new arrivals, outpacing those from China and India for the first time in several years.
In 2021, there were about 10.7 million Mexican-born individuals living in the United States. Despite the continued popularity of the United States as a destination, the Mexican immigrant population decreased by about 1 million people (or 9 percent) between 2010 and 2021. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of Mexicans leaving the United States outpaced the number of new arrivals, although this trend later reversed, according to Pew Research Center estimates, with the number of returns to Mexico falling.
For several years starting in 2013 Mexico ceased to be the top country of origin for new immigrants to the United States, overtaken by India and China. However, recent data suggest that during the pandemic Mexicans have again become the largest new immigrant group, amid widespread restrictions on mobility particularly for people traveling long distances. Among U.S. foreign-born residents who in 2021 reported that they lived abroad a year before, 96,000 were Mexican as compared to 76,000 Indians and 56,000 immigrants from mainland China.
Mexicans also received the largest number of overall nonimmigrant visas—including, in particular, temporary worker visas—ahead of China and India in both fiscal year (FY) 2020 and FY 2021. Similarly, Mexicans are the top recipients of lawful permanent residence (also referred as obtaining a green card): 107,200 Mexicans received a green card in FY 2021, compared to 93,500 from India and 49,800 from mainland China. Most Mexican receiving lawful permanent residence in FY 2021 already lived in the United States and were adjusting from another status; just 34,900 had applied from outside the United States.
Figure 1. Mexican Immigrant Population in the United States, 1980-2021
Sources: Data from U.S. Census Bureau 2010 and 2021 American Community Surveys (ACS), and Campbell J. Gibson and Kay Jung, "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850-2000" (Working Paper no. 81, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2006), available online.
Click here to view an interactive chart showing the number of Mexican immigrants and their share of all U.S. immigrants over time.
Mexicans also account for the largest group of unauthorized immigrants: 48 percent of the total 11 million people in 2019, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). Although the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico has been on the decline, this trend may have shifted due in part to effects of the pandemic. As inflation increases in Mexico, climbing to a 21-year high in August 2022, more Mexicans have headed to the U.S. border. In FY 2020, for the first time in five years, Mexicans accounted for more than half of all encounters recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the number of encounters of Mexicans at the border in FY 2022 reached its highest point since FY 2007.
The United States is overwhelmingly the most popular destination for Mexicans living abroad, accounting for 97 percent of all Mexican emigrants. In fact, 8 percent of all people born in Mexico lived in the United States as of 2020. Canada is home to the next largest population of Mexicans (87,000), followed by Spain (61,000), Germany (20,000), and Guatemala (19,000), according to mid-2020 United Nations Population Division estimates.
Click here to view an interactive map showing where migrants from Mexico and other countries have settled worldwide.
Within the United States, almost 60 percent of Mexican immigrants live in California or Texas. Most Mexican immigrants are not U.S. citizens, and those who gained permanent resident status in FY 2021 mainly did so via family sponsorship. Compared to both the overall foreign- and U.S.-born populations, Mexican immigrants have lower levels of educational attainment and lower household incomes. They also tend to have lived in the United States for longer than all immigrants and are more likely to be in the labor force than U.S.-born adults.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau (the most recent 2021 American Community Survey [ACS], the 2019 ACS, and pooled 2015-19 ACS data), the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics, the World Bank, and MPI, this Spotlight provides information on the Mexican immigrant population in the United States, focusing on its size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.
