Resource

Ranking of metros where immigrants are thriving and where they are moving

The George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative has ranked U.S. metro areas for where immigrants are thriving best in America today, in a new report Immigrants and Opportunity in America’s Cities.

Table 1

Where Immigrants are Thriving Best: Top 25 Large Metros

(out of America’s 100 largest metro areas)

Metro Area

Avg z-score

1 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 2.23
2 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 1.21
3 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkley, CA 1.18
4 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 1.11
5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 1.08
6 St. Louis, MO-IL 1.02
7 Pittsburgh, PA 1.01
8 Raleigh-Cary, NC 0.84
9 Jackson, MS 0.80
10 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 0.71
11 Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT 0.67
12 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 0.67
13 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 0.58
14 Madison, WI 0.56
15 Worcester, MA-CT 0.56
16 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 0.52
17 Bridgeport-Stanford-Norwalk, CT 0.51
18 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 0.51
19 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA 0.50
20 Richmond, VA 0.48
21 Colorado Springs, CO 0.40
22 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA 0.35
23 Dayton-Kettering, OH 0.33
24 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 0.32
25 Jacksonville, FL 0.28
Population-Weighted Average, Top 100 Metros 0.00

Source: Author’s calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau data. See full ranking of America’s 100 largest metros in Appendix 2 of the main report and all underlying data in the online data appendix in this report.

  • Best-performing metros for immigrant well-being include major technology centers, college towns, and mid-Atlantic and Midwestern metros that have been intentional in welcoming immigrants and helping them thrive, based on new rankings from the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative.
  • Immigrant populations in most metro areas are thriving better in suburban counties than neighboring core counties, county-level data in our report confirm.

Immigrants moving within the United States over the past decade are making very different choices regarding where to live and work than newly arriving immigrants, according to the report.

Table 2

Immigration Rates, 2010-2020: Top 25 Metros

(of America’s 100 largest metro areas)

 

Metro Area % Immig Rate Rank

Abs Number

1 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 12.1% 2

678,385

2 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 9.5% 11

203,049

3 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 8.6% 14

147,896

4 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 7.0% 6

320,383

5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 6.7% 3

378,696

6 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 6.4% 9

221,774

7 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 6.2% 4

369,811

8 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 5.6% 29

51,164

9 San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA 5.5% 8

237,403

10 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 4.9% 48

30,517

11 Urban Honolulu, HI 4.9% 32

46,772

12 Ney York-Newark-Jersey City, NU-NJ-PA 4.8% 1

910, 113

13 Springfield, MA 4.7% 46

32,428

14 Worcester, MA-CT 4.3% 39

39,538

15 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 4.3% 16

119,843

16 Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT 4.2% 28

51,371

17 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 4.2% 55

25,422

18 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 4.1% 7

265,113

19 New Haven-Milford, CT 4.1% 42

35,231

20 Auston-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX 4.1% 21

70,042

21 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC 4.0% 58

22,452

22 Columbus, OH 3.7% 22

69,678

23 Raleigh-Cary, NC 3.5% 36

40,111

24 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 3.3% 50

27,334

25 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 3.3% 18

102,942

Pop-Weighted Average, Top 100 Metros 3.6%

Source: Author’s calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau data. See full ranking of America’s 100 largest metros in Appendix 2 of the main report and all underlying data in the online data appendix in this report.

Newly arriving immigrants tend to choose traditional metros consistent with historical patterns— New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. But in all four metros, immigrants experience relatively low median living standards after adjusting for local costs of living—driving large out-migration to other metro areas.

Table 3

Estimated Net Inbound Domestic Migration* Rates by Immigrants, 2010-2020: Top 25 Metros

(of America’s 100 largest metro areas)

 

Metro Area Estimated % Net Dom Mig Rate Rank

Abs Number

1 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 2.9% 25

17,831

2 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 2.8% 4

55,070

3 North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 2.8% 24

19,601

4 Jacksonville, FL 2.1% 18

28,758

5 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 2.0% 23

23,845

6 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 2.0% 5

54,396

7 Knoxville, TN 1.9% 29

15,713

8 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 1.9% 6

40,617

9 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX 1.9% 12

32,448

10 Tulsa, OK 1.9% 26

17,397

11 Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN 1.7% 20

27,299

12 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA 1.6% 43

9,283

13 Charleston-North Charleston, SC 1.6% 38

10,977

14 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 1.6% 32

14,171

15 Pittsburg, PA 1.6% 7

36,937

16 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 1.6% 11

33,515

17 Boise City, ID 1.5% 42

9.510

18 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL 1.5% 45

9,062

19 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 1.5% 10

33,858

20 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL 1.5% 52

8,132

21 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 1.5% 53 7,680
22 Omaha-Council Bluffs-NE-IA 1.5% 34

12,900

23 Kansas City, MO-KS 1.5% 15

29,608

24 Dayton-Kettering, OH 1.5% 36

11,681

25 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC 1.4% 51

8,138

Population-Weighted Average, Top 100 Metros -0.1%

*We define Net Inbound Domestic Migration Rate for each metro area as the estimated number of foreign-born people moving into the metro area from elsewhere in the United States between 2010 and 2020 divided by the metro’s total 2010 population.

Source: Author’s calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau data. See full ranking of America’s 100 largest metros in Appendix 2 of the main report and all underlying data in the online data appendix in this report.

Among metros smaller than America’s 100 largest, top performers for immigrant well-being, immigration rates, and domestic in-migration rates primarily consist of college towns, as we define them in the report. They also include a handful of metros with one high value-added, dominant employer or industry: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas (home to Walmart); Rochester, Minnesota (headquarters of the Mayo Clinic); and Midland, Texas (center of the West Texas oil and gas industry).

Immigrants making secondary moves within the United States mirror those of native-born people, except immigrants are more likely to choose metros focused on welcoming them. Leading destinations include Dallas-Fort Worth; Austin, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Knoxville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida; Northport-Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida; Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida; and Boise, Idaho.