Every Tenth American Voter Is an Immigrant: Who Are These People, Where Do They Live, and Who Do They Vote For?

More immigrants are calling the United States home. Many have become U.S. citizens through naturalization, making them eligible to vote in the November 2024 presidential election. The number of naturalized citizens is growing as the federal government processes citizenship applications. at the fastest pace in recent years, writes PEW Research Center.

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The U.S. Census Bureau's Population Data Center has taken a detailed look at nearly 24 million adult immigrants who are naturalized citizens.

According to the 2022 National Election Survey, 23,8 million naturalized citizens were eligible to vote, representing about 10% of the U.S. electorate.

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The number of adults becoming naturalized citizens has grown steadily in recent decades. Between 2012 and 2022 alone, the number grew by 32%, from 18 million to 23,8 million. Over the same period, the number of adults born in the U.S. increased by 8%, from 202 million to more than 217 million.

Most naturalized citizens eligible to vote have lived in the United States for more than 20 years.

About three-quarters of immigrants eligible to vote (73%) have lived in the United States for more than two decades, another 20% for 11 to 20 years, while relatively few (8%) have lived in the United States for about 10 years.

This pattern reflects the lengthy process of becoming a citizen in the United States. Generally, immigrants must be lawful permanent residents of the United States for at least five years before they are eligible to apply for citizenship. However, the average number of years it takes immigrants to become eligible for naturalization varies depending on their country of birth.

Among naturalized citizens eligible to vote, more than half (55%) live in just four states: California, Florida, New York, and Texas.

These four states are the most populous in the country when looking at total eligible voters, and together they account for about a third of the U.S. electorate (32%).

California has the largest number of naturalized adults of any state, with 5,6 million people.

In 13 states and the District of Columbia, naturalized citizens make up about 10 percent of all eligible voters. The states in which naturalized citizens make up the largest percentage of the electorate are California (21 percent), New Jersey (19 percent), New York (19 percent), and Florida (17 percent). The first three states are traditionally Democratic strongholds; the last is a Republican region.

In West Virginia and Mississippi, naturalized citizens make up some of the smallest shares of voters overall—about 1 percent of the electorate in each state.

The share of naturalized citizens in the electorate varies greatly in some potentially contested states in the 2024 election.

Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are considered swing states this fall. The share of naturalized voters eligible to vote varies widely across these states.

In Nevada and Arizona, naturalized citizens make up 14% and 9%, respectively, while in Georgia they make up 7% and about 5% in Pennsylvania and Michigan. In Wisconsin, naturalized citizens make up only 3% of voters.

Overall, Georgia's naturalized citizen electorate is the largest among these swing states at 574, while Pennsylvania's is not far behind at 000.

The top countries of origin for adult naturalized citizens in the United States are Mexico, India, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

About 3,7 million immigrants eligible to vote in the United States (15%) are from Mexico. India (8%), China (7%), the Philippines (6%), and Vietnam (4%) are the top five countries of origin.

The countries of origin of immigrants eligible to vote are somewhat consistent with U.S. immigration trends over the past six decades or so. Of all immigrants to the U.S. since 1965, about a quarter have come from Mexico, and about a quarter have come from Asia, with the largest numbers coming from China, India, and the Philippines.

That is, most immigrants eligible to vote are Hispanic or Asian, two racial and ethnic groups that have grown in numbers in recent years.

• Adults Hispanic made up the largest share (2022%) of immigrants eligible to vote as of 34. About 8,1 million adult naturalized citizens were Hispanic, up from 7,5 million in 2018.
• About three in ten immigrants eligible to vote (31%) as of 2022 were AsiansThere are about 7,5 million naturalized adults nationwide, up about half a million from four years ago.
• Quantity and proportion white immigrants, eligible to vote, remained relatively stable between 2018 and 2022, at about 4,9 million, or 21% of the total.
• 2,5 million blacks Adult naturalized citizens of the country as of 2022 made up 11% of the immigrant electorate.

The naturalized citizen electorate differs from the U.S.-born electorate in a number of demographic respects.

Immigrants eligible to vote tend to be older than U.S.-born citizens, more likely to have a bachelor's degree, live in families with slightly higher incomes, and have lower levels of English proficiency.

Age About six in ten immigrants eligible to vote (58%) are 50 years of age or older, compared with 46% of U.S.-born voters. And only 8% of immigrants eligible to vote are under 30, compared with 22% of voters in that age group who were born in the U.S.

Education: 39% of naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 36% of the U.S.-born electorate. Naturalized citizens are less likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to have completed college or earned an associate's degree.

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Family income: The median total family income among naturalized citizens eligible to vote is $92, compared with $870 among U.S.-born voters.

English proficiency: 37% of eligible immigrant voters say they speak English poorly, much higher than the 2% of U.S.-born voters who say the same.

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