The most common birthplace of immigrants in every state

Mexico is the most common birthplace of immigrants in 32 states, according to 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. India is first in four states, and El Salvador, Canada, and the Dominican Republic each lead in three, counting the District of Columbia as a state.

Nationwide, 10.9 million of the country's 47.3 million immigrants were born in Mexico, or 23.1 percent. India is a distant second at 2.9 million. The Census Bureau counts as foreign-born anyone who was not a U.S. citizen at birth, so the totals include naturalized citizens.

Mexico's share is largest in the Southwest. In New Mexico, 64.6 percent of immigrants were born in Mexico, the highest share for a single country in any state. Arizona, at 51.5 percent, is the only other state where one country accounts for more than half. Idaho (47.9 percent) and Texas (45.5 percent) are next.

Florida's top birthplace is Cuba, with 1.06 million residents. That is more people than the Mexican-born population of any state except California and Texas. Cuba accounts for 21.6 percent of Florida's 4.9 million immigrants, and Haiti is second.

The Dominican Republic is first in New York, with 490,874 residents, and in Rhode Island. El Salvador leads in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Canada is first in three states on the northern border, Maine, Montana, and Vermont, and the Philippines leads in Hawaii and Alaska. Jamaica is first in Connecticut, Honduras in Louisiana, and Brazil in Massachusetts.

India's four states are New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, and New Hampshire. New Jersey has the most India-born residents of the four, 279,421, or 12.5 percent of the state's immigrants. India is also the second most common birthplace in 19 other states, among them Texas, Illinois, Georgia, and Washington.

In six states the top spot is a statistical tie. Every American Community Survey figure is an estimate with a margin of error, and in these states the gap between first and second place is smaller than the margin of error for that difference. In Michigan, India (81,249) leads Mexico (80,898) by 351 people. In Pennsylvania, the Dominican Republic (102,698) leads India (102,281) by 417. Massachusetts (Brazil over the Dominican Republic), New Hampshire (India over Canada), North Dakota (Mexico over the Philippines), and West Virginia (Mexico over India) are also too close to separate.

No single country dominates in Connecticut. Its top birthplace, Jamaica, accounts for 8.1 percent of the state's 569,177 immigrants, the smallest leading share in any state. In Massachusetts, the top three, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and China, each account for between 8.1 and 8.8 percent.

The top birthplace in every state

States are ranked by number of immigrants. An asterisk marks a top birthplace whose lead over second place is within the survey's margin of error.

West Virginia has the smallest immigrant share of any state, 1.8 percent of residents. Its top three birthplaces, Mexico (2,757), India (2,296), and the Philippines (2,200), are separated by 557 people.