Columbus has a rapidly-growing immigrant population, with nearly 13% of the total population being foreign-born in 2020. But where exactly are these immigrant coming from, and where are they settling down in Columbus and Franklin County? To answer these questions, I visited the US Census and made this immigrant place of birth map from the raw data.
Click on any census tract to see the total immigrant population in 2020, a percentage breakdown by continent of origin and the top 5 nations of origin for each tract.
From the map, we can see that the Northwest and Northeast parts of Columbus and Franklin County are dominated by immigrants of Asian origin. Hilltop, Linden and parts of the Southeast are much more North American in origin, with the 161/Morse corridors and the Far East largely have African origins. There are relatively few South American or European dominated areas, but they do exist scattered about. Some common misconceptions are debunked, however. Hilltop through Lincoln Village has long been thought to be the hub of the Mexican immigrant population, but several Latin American nations have significant populations there, including Honduras, El Salvador and Colombia. Many Mexicans seem to be settling in the Linden area now, instead. Meanwhile, Somalia is often considered as the origin of many immigrants in the Morse/161 corridors, and while that population does exist there, these corridors are far more diverse than common thinking.
2020 census tract maps are currently available for all sorts of other demographic and population data. This information in tract format is generally available for Columbus going back to 1930.
In the ongoing series discussing topics related to the 2018 Census demographic estimates, today I will update the foreign-born comparison. Beyond the simple comparison, I will also talk about the regions and countries that the foreign-born populations come from.
Total Foreign-Born Population Rank by City 2010 and 2018 2010————————————-——-2018 1. Chicago: 557,674—————1. Chicago: 540,738 2. San Jose: 366,194————-2. San Jose: 407,839 3. Austin: 148,431—————-3. Austin: 180,544 4. Las Vegas: 130,503———–4. Las Vegas: 133,033 5. Sacramento: 96,105———-5. Columbus: 125,339 6. Columbus: 86,663————-6. Sacramento: 114,786 7. Portland: 83,026—————7. Jacksonville: 111,798 8. Jacksonville: 77,145——–8. Nashville: 95,040 9. Indianapolis: 74,707——–9. Portland: 90,728 10. Nashville: 73,327———-10. Indianapolis: 81,764 11. Minneapolis: 57,846——11. Minneapolis: 68,131 12. Milwaukee: 57,222——–12. St. Paul: 59,381 13. Providence: 52,920——-13. Milwaukee: 57,647 14. St. Paul: 50,366———–14. Omaha: 50,279 15. Virginia Beach: 40,756—15. Providence ;46,995 16. Omaha: 39,288————16. Detroit: 44,520 17. Wichita: 39,128————17. Kansas City: 43,485 18. Kansas City: 35,532——18. Virginia Beach: 43,385 19. Detroit: 34,307————19. Wichita: 42,171 20. Madison: 24,929———20. Madison: 32,622 21. St. Louis: 23,011———-21. Des Moines: 31,013 22. Lincoln: 22,214———–22. Pittsburgh: 26,569 23. Des Moines: 20,798—–23. Lincoln: 23,309 24. Pittsburgh: 18,698——24. Fort Wayne: 22,489 25. Cleveland: 17,739——-25. Cleveland: 21,838 26. Grand Rapids: 16,615—26. St. Louis: 21,538 27. Cincinnati: 16,531——-27. Cincinnati: 20,592 28. Fort Wayne: 15,286—-28. Grand Rapids: 20,032 29. Toledo: 11,159———–29. Akron: 13,649 30. Akron: 8,524————30. Toledo: 9,038 31. Dayton: 5,102———–31. Dayton: 7,311 32. Youngstown: 3,695—-32. Canton: 3,241 33. Canton: 1,343———–33: Youngstown: 976
Here’s the 2010-2018 total change. And the 2010-2018 change by %.
Columbus has done very well in both total and % growth of its foreign-born population since 2010.
So now that we know how many foreign-born immigrants are arriving and how fast, let’s take a look at where they are coming from.
Total Foreign-Born Residents From Europe in 2000 and 2018 2000———————————————–2018 1. Chicago: 145,462———————1. Chicago: 91,397 2. San Jose: 21,904———————2. San Jose: 22,043 3. Portland: 17,572———————-3. Jacksonville: 18,808 4. Jacksonville: 10,883————4. Portland: 17,016 5. Las Vegas: 9,070—————-5. Austin: 11,981 6. Cleveland: 8,796—————-6. Las Vegas: 11,472 7. St. Louis: 8,543——————7. Columbus: 8,141 8. Sacramento: 8,204————-8. Nashville: 8,108 9. Milwaukee: 7,841—————9. Virginia Beach: 6,710 10. Austin: 7,474——————10. Sacramento: 6,275 11. Pittsburgh: 7,413————–11. Pittsburgh: 5,047 12. Columbus: 7,017————–12. Minneapolis: 5,031 13. Indianapolis: 6,543———–13. Omaha: 3,845 14. Virginia Beach: 6,333——–14. St. Louis: 4,711 15. Detroit: 5,600—————–15. Indianapolis: 4,199 16. Minneapolis: 5,409———–16. Omaha: 3,845 17. Providence: 5,126————-17. Milwaukee: 3,808 18. Nashville: 4,859—————18. Madison: 3,519 19. Cincinnati: 3,851————–19. Providence: 3,030 20. Grand Rapids: 3,396———20. Lincoln: 2,777 21. Omaha: 3,320—————–21. Cincinnati: 2,738 22. St. Paul: 3,255—————-22. St. Paul: 2,449 23. Des Moines: 3,216———–23. Grand Rapids: 2,336 24. Kansas City: 2,985———-24. Kansas City: 2,320 25. Madison: 2,871—————25. Fort Wayne: 2,235 26. Lincoln: 2,701—————-26. Wichita: 1,851 27. Akron: 2,687—————–27. Detroit: 1,767 28. Fort Wayne: 2076———–28. Akron: 1,580 29. Toledo: 2,020—————-29. Des Moines: 1,042 30. Wichita: 2,004————–30. Toledo: 496 31. Dayton: 901——————31. Canton: 347 32. Youngstown: 870———–32. Dayton: 347 33. Canton: 590—————–33. Youngstown: 337
Columbus had more European immigrants than most in 2000 and 2018, and was one of the relatively few cities that saw an increase by 2018.
Total Foreign-born Population from Asia 2000 and 2018 2000————————————————–2018 1. San Jose: 182,712—————————1. San Jose: 256,504 2. Chicago: 112,932—————————2. Chicago: 144,970 3. Sacramento: 40,253———————3. Austin: 59,711 4. Portland: 26,271—————————4. Sacramento: 56,084 5. Austin: 25,036——————————5. Columbus: 49,185 6. St. Paul: 23,245———————-6. Portland: 42,245 7. Columbus: 22,354——————-7. Jacksonville: 39,543 8. Jacksonville: 17,427—————–8. Las Vegas: 35,959 9. Minneapolis: 17,376—————–9. St. Paul: 34,246 10. Las Vegas: 17,062—————–10. Nashville: 28,142 11. Virginia Beach: 15,176————-11. Indianapolis: 24,992 12. Detroit: 15,114———————-12. Virginia Beach: 21,954 13. Nashville: 12,573——————-13. Milwaukee: 18,192 14. Milwaukee: 12,114——————14. Minneapolis: 17,929 15. Wichita: 10,826——————–15. Detroit: 17,474 16. Madison: 9,736——————–16. Madison: 17,021 17. Indianapolis: 9,190—————-17. Omaha: 14,582 18. Pittsburgh: 7,938—————–18. Wichita: 14,107 19. Providence: 7,871—————–19. Kansas City: 13,753 20. Kansas City: 7,312—————-20. Des Moines: 13,139 21. Lincoln: 6,691———————-21. Pittsburgh: 12,929 22. St. Louis: 6,425——————–22. Lincoln: 11,233 23. Omaha: 6,302 ———————23. Fort Wayne: 10,809 24. Cleveland: 6,213——————-24. Cleveland: 10,351 25. Des Moines: 5,239—————-25. St. Louis: 9,505 26. Cincinnati: 4,326——————26. Akron: 8,391 27. Toledo: 3,847———————-27. Providence: 7,744 28. Grand Rapids: 3,206————–28. Cincinnati: 5,599 29. Akron: 3,099———————–29. Toledo: 3,597 30. Fort Wayne: 2,792—————–30. Grand Rapids: 3,369 31. Dayton: 903————————-31. Dayton: 2,575 32. Youngstown: 338——————32. Canton: 542 33. Canton: 296————————33. Youngstown: 196
Columbus ranks even higher with its foreign-born Asian population.
Total Foreign-born Population from Africa 2000 and 2018 2000—————————————————2018 1. Minneapolis: 12,765——————–1. Columbus: 45,092 2. Chicago: 12,613————————-2. Minneapolis: 26,271 3. Columbus: 9,530———————–3. Chicago: 25,573 4. San Jose: 5,189————————-4. Nashville: 18,423 5. St. Paul: 4,697———————5. Indianapolis: 14,965 6. Nashville: 4,183——————-6. St. Paul: 13,594 7. Detroit:: 3,249———————7. Austin: 9,961 8. Providence: 3,138—————-8. Kansas City: 8,558 9. Indianapolis: 2,650—————9. San Jose: 8,546 10. Portland: 2,430—————–10. Cincinnati: 7,113 11. Austin 2,263———————11. Des Moines: 6,191 12. Kansas City: 2,192————–12. Omaha: 5,474 13. Cincinnati: 1,781—————-13. Grand Rapids: 3,932 14. Jacksonville: 1,719————-14. Portland: 3,899 15. St. Louis: 1,500—————–15. St. Louis: 3,777 16. Omaha: 1,497——————-16. Providence: 3,571 17. Milwaukee: 1,332—————17. Milwaukee: 3,552 18. Cleveland: 1,075—————-18. Jacksonville: 3,426 19. Sacramento: 1,051————-19. Lincoln: 2,942 20. Des Moines: 1,038————-20. Wichita: 2,752 21. Madison: 991——————–21. Madison: 2,599 22. Wichita: 946——————–22. Detroit: 2,081 23. Las Vegas: 916—————–23. Pittsburgh: 1,909 24. Pittsburgh: 905—————-24. Sacramento: 1,784 25. Virginia Beach: 840———–25. Virginia Beach: 1,783 26. Grand Rapids: 718————-26. Fort Wayne: 1,614 27. Toledo: 638——————–27. Dayton: 1,573 28. Lincoln: 637——————–28. Akron: 1,312 29. Dayton: 522——————–29. Las Vegas: 1,206 30. Fort Wayne: 384————–30. Cleveland: 622 31. Akron: 197———————-31. Toledo: 416 32. Canton: 89———————32. Youngstown: 277 33. Youngstown: 50—————33. Canton: 95
Columbus has claimed the number 1 spot in its foreign-born African population, passing previous top city Minneapolis.
And finally, the total foreign-born population from the Americas in 2000 and 2018 2000—————————————————-2018 1. Chicago: 357,235————————–1. Chicago: 277,742 2. San Jose: 117,989————————2. San Jose: 119,455 3. Austin: 73,935———————-3. Austin: 97,933 4. Las Vegas: 63,277——————4. Las Vegas: 83,782 5. Sacramento: 28,927—————5. Jacksonville: 49,339 6. Providence: 27,649—————-6. Sacramento: 42,722 7. Milwaukee: 24,781——————7. Nashville: 39,633 8. Detroit: 21,527———————-8. Indianapolis: 37,287 9. Portland: 20,939——————-9. Providence: 32,650 10. Minneapolis: 19,648————-10. Milwaukee: 31,917 11. Indianapolis: 17,530————–11. Omaha: 26,012 12. Nashville: 17,125——————12. Wichita: 23,429 13. Omaha: 14,467——————–13. Detroit: 23,198 14. Wichita:: 13,988——————14. Columbus: 22,469 15. Grand Rapids: 13,477————15. Portland: 20,407 16. Kansas City: 12,948————–16. Minneapolis: 18,765 17. Jacksonville: 11,881—————17. Kansas City: 18,170 18. St.Paul: 9,804———————18. Virginia Beach: 12,667 19. Columbus: 8,596—————–19. Des Moines: 10,675 20. Des Moines: 6,201—————20. Grand Rapids: 10,395 21. Virginia Beach: 5,754————21. Madison: 9,349 22. Cleveland: 5,192—————–22. St. Paul: 9,070 23. Madison: 5,080——————23. Fort Wayne: 7,831 24. Fort Wayne: 4,930————–24. Lincoln: 6,280 25. Lincoln: 3,106——————–25. Pittsburgh: 5,898 26. St. Louis: 2,961——————-26. Cleveland: 5,810 27. Toledo: 2,942———————27. Cincinnati: 4,901 28. Pittsburgh: 2,463—————-28. Toledo: 4,347 29. Cincinnati: 2,432—————–29. St. Louis: 3,545 30. Dayton: 919———————-30. Dayton: 2,816 31. Akron: 891————————31. Akron: 2,366 32. Canton: 347———————-32. Canton: 2,257 33. Youngstown: 333—————33. Youngstown: 166
Columbus does the worst with this group, but even here it moved up 5 spots in the rankings.
The rest of the foreign-born population is made up of small groups of people from Oceania- or basically island nations.
