---
title: "6 key findings about black immigration to the U.S."
description: "Although the U.S. has long had a sizable black population as a legacy of slavery, voluntary black immigration here is projected to grow in coming decades."
date: "2015-04-09"
authors:
  - name: "Monica Anderson"
    job_title: "Director, Internet and Technology Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/monica-anderson/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/04/09/6-key-findings-about-black-immigration/"
categories:
  - "Black Americans"
  - "Immigrant Populations"
  - "Immigration & Migration"
  - "Race & Ethnicity"
---

# 6 key findings about black immigration to the U.S.

Black immigrants make up a small but growing segment of the U.S. black population. Although the United States has long had a sizable black population as a legacy of slavery, voluntary black immigration to the U.S. is a relatively new development and is [projected to grow](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/03/09/u-s-immigrant-population-projected-to-rise-even-as-share-falls-among-hispanics-asians/) in the coming decades. A new [Pew Research Center report](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/04/09/a-rising-share-of-the-u-s-black-population-is-foreign-born/) examines this trend and provides a statistical portrait of the nation’s black immigrant population.

Here are six key findings about the foreign-born black population in the U.S.

[![Caribbean Is Top Birth Region; African Immigration Soared Since 2000](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/04/FT_15.04.09_blackImmigrantsOrigin.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/04/09/chapter-1-statistical-portrait-of-the-u-s-black-immigrant-population/#citizenship-status)

**The black immigrant population has more than quadrupled since 1980.** Only around 800,000 blacks were foreign-born in that year, and by 2013 the number had climbed to 3.8 million, according to a Pew Research analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Immigrants are also making up a larger share of the overall black population – 8.7% of blacks were foreign-born in 2013, a share that is [projected to almost double](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/03/09/u-s-immigrant-population-projected-to-rise-even-as-share-falls-among-hispanics-asians/) by 2060.

The number of black immigrants from African nations has rapidly grown. **Between 2000 and 2013, the black African immigrant population grew from 570,000 to 1.4 million, an increase of 137%. **Africans make up 36% of the overall foreign-born black population, up from 24% in 2000. Still, half of all black immigrants were born in the Caribbean, with Jamaica and Haiti being the two largest birth countries, accounting for 18% and 15% of black immigrants, respectively.

**Black immigrants make up a double-digit share of the overall black population in some large metro areas.** In 2013, about one-in-three blacks (34%) living in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area in Florida were immigrants. In the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, foreign-born blacks made up 28% of the black population. And in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, 15% of the area’s blacks were foreign-born.

**When compared with U.S. immigrants overall, foreign-born blacks are less likely to be in the U.S. illegally, more likely to be U.S. citizens and more likely to speak English at a higher rate. **About 575,000 black immigrants were living in the U.S. without authorization in 2012, accounting for 16% of all black immigrants, according to Pew Research Center estimates. By comparison, about a quarter of the nation’s 42.5 million immigrants have an unauthorized status. Black immigrants are also more likely to be U.S. citizens than immigrants overall (54% versus 47%). And given that many black immigrants are from English-speaking Caribbean nations, 74% of those ages 5 and older are proficient in English, compared with 50% of all immigrants.

[![One-third of Black Immigrants from Africa Have a College Degree, a Higher Share than Among the U.S. Population](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/04/FT_15.04.09_blackImmigrantsEducation.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/04/09/chapter-1-statistical-portrait-of-the-u-s-black-immigrant-population/#educational-attainment)

Overall, black immigrants earn college degrees at a slightly lower rate than Americans in general, but** the share of foreign-born blacks from Africa with a college degree is higher than that of the overall U.S. population. **About one-quarter (26%) of foreign-born blacks ages 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2013, which falls somewhat below that of the overall U.S. population, at 30%. However, black immigrants ages 25 and older from Africa have high levels of educational attainment – 35% have a college degree, a higher share than Americans overall.

**There are some distinct differences between U.S.- and foreign-born blacks when it came to age, education, marriage and income. **In comparison with U.S.-born blacks, foreign-born blacks are older, with a median age of 42 versus 29 for U.S.-born blacks, according to 2013 figures. Among those 25 and older, a higher share of immigrant blacks have a bachelor’s degree or higher (26% vs. 19%). They’re also much more likely to be married – nearly half (48%) of black immigrants ages 18 and older were married in 2013, compared with 28% of U.S.-born blacks, a difference that may be tied to the foreign-born blacks’ higher median age. Black immigrants are in general faring better economically than blacks born in the U.S. Household incomes for foreign-born blacks are on average $10,000 higher than U.S.-born blacks, and black immigrants are less likely to live in poverty (20% vs. 28%).