Where Does the Immigrant Population Live?




In Franklin County, the immigrant- or foreign-born- population has been growing rapidly for the last few decades. Latin American immigration was dominant for many years, but has recently taken secondary position to even faster Asian growth. But where does the immigrant population live, exactly? Where they end up in the county is perhaps not where common belief would always suggest. The interactive map below breaks down not only the main continent of origin for immigrants by census tract, but also gives the top 5 specific origin nations. While at first glance, the continents seem heavily grouped together, a deeper look at nations of origin indicate that immigrant populations are much more diverse and spread out much more evenly than it appears.

The Census Tract Maps offers a great deal of demographic and population data in all subjects, while Historic US Maps provides old maps of all types.



Columbus’ Foreign-Born Population Origins




foreign-born population origins

Columbus’s foreign-born population origins are much more varied, and the overall population larger, than what one might expect. As of 2017, they made up 12% of the city’s population, the highest in more than 100 years. I’ve looked at such numbers before, but I wanted to update for the most recent available numbers.

Top 25 Origin Nations for the Existing Foreign-Born Population
2010—————————————2017
1. Mexico: 13620———————1. Mexico: 12214
2. India: 7790————————–2. India: 10095
3. Somalia: 6799———————3. Somalia: 8143
4. China: 3881————————-4. China: 6475
5. Ghana: 2381————————5. Ghana: 5229
6. Korea: 2246————————-6. Ethiopia: 2428
7. El Salvador: 1542—————–7. Kenya: 2131
8. Japan: 1518————————8. El Salvador: 2057
9. Vietnam: 1496———————-9. Vietnam: 1992
10. Ethiopia: 1457——————-10. Nepal: 1914
11. Kenya: 1391———————-11. Korea: 1564
12. Sierra Leone: 1222————-12. Iraq: 1407
13. Haiti: 1091————————13. Sierra Leone: 1399
14. Canada: 1086——————–14. Dominican Republic: 1292
15. Philippines: 1054—————-15. Japan: 1292
16. Germany: 1017——————-16. Cambodia: 1165
17. United Kingdom: 970———–17. Russia: 1142
18. Cambodia: 962——————-18. Philippines: 1135
19. Taiwan: 940———————–19. Morocco: 1134
20. Liberia: 852———————–20. Nigeria: 1029
21. Guatemala: 832——————21. Cameroon: 1018
22. Dominican Republic: 804——22. Taiwan: 982
23. Russia: 800———————–23. United Kingdom: 951
24. Ukraine: 716———————-24. Ukraine: 868
25. Nigeria: 701———————–25. Pakistan: 861

Since 2010, there has been somewhat of a shift away from Europe and Latin America, and more and more into Asia and Africa.

Here were the 10 biggest gainers and losers 2010-2017
Gainers————————————-Losers
1. Ghana: 2848———————-1. Mexico: -1406
2. China: 2594———————–2. Korea: -682
3. India: 2105————————3. Haiti: -647
4. Nepal: 1766———————–4. Germany: -280
5. Somalia: 1344——————–5. Liberia: -268
6. Iraq: 1108————————–6. Belarus: -228
7. Ethiopia: 971———————-7. Canada: -247
8. Morocco: 873———————8. Japan: -226
9. Cameroon: 819——————9. Bosnia/Herzegovina: -215
10. Kenya: 740———————-10. Guatemala: -210

Keep in mind that these are just estimates and can therefore have wide margins of error.

Both the Demographics and Population pages and the US Census offer additional data to explore.