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.
The Census just came out with 2015 demographic numbers for all places with at least 65,000 people. Given that half the decade is over, it’s a good point to look at where Columbus stands relative to its national/Midwest peers in a foreign-born comparison. A few days ago, I gave numbers for GDP. In the next few posts, I will look at the people that make up the populations of these places.
First up, let’s take a look at foreign-born populations. I have looked at this topic some in the past, but I have never done a full-scale comparison for this topic.
Total Foreign-Born Population Rank by City 2000, 2010 and 2015 2000—————————————-2010———————————-2015 1. Chicago, IL: 628,903———–1. Chicago: 557,674—————1. Chicago: 573,463 2. San Jose, CA: 329,750——–2. San Jose: 366,194————-2. San Jose: 401,493 3. San Antonio, TX: 133,675—-3. San Antonio: 192,741———-3. San Antonio: 208,046 4. Austin, TX: 109,006————4. Austin: 148,431——————4. Austin: 181,686 5. Las Vegas, NV: 90,656——-5. Las Vegas: 130,503————-5. Charlotte: 128,897 6. Sacramento, CA: 82,616—–6. Chalotte: 106,047—————6. Las Vegas: 127,609 7. Portland, OR: 68,976———7. Sacramento: 96,105————-7. Sacramento: 112,579 8. Charlotte, NC: 59,849——–8. Columbus: 86,663—————-8. Columbus: 101,129 9. Minneapolis, MN: 55,475—–9. Portland: 83,026—————–9. Nashville: 88,193 10. Columbus: 47,713———–10. Indianapolis: 74,407———–10. Portland: 86,041 11. Milwaukee, WI: 46,122—–11. Nashville: 73,327—————11. Indianapolis: 72,456 12. Detroit, MI: 45,541———–12. Minneapolis: 57,846———–12. Minneapolis: 70,769 13. Providence, RI: 43,947—–13. Milwaukee: 57,222————-13. Milwaukee: 58,321 14. Nashville, TN: 38,936——-14. Providence: 52,926————14. Providence: 53,532 15. Indianapolis, IN: 36,067—-15. Orlando: 43,747—————-15. Orlando: 50,558 16. Virginia Beach, VA: 28,276–16. Virginia Beach: 40,756—–16. Omaha: 48,263 17. Orlando, FL: 26,741———17. Omaha: 39,288—————–17. Detroit: 39,861 18. Omaha, NE: 25,687———18. Kansas City: 35,532———18. Virginia Beach: 38,360 19. Kansas City, MO: 25,632—19. Detroit: 34,307—————-19. Kansas City: 37,787 20. Cleveland: 21,372————20. St. Louis: 23,011————–20. Pittsburgh: 28,187 21. Grand Rapids, MI: 20,814–21. Pittsburgh: 18,698————21. St. Louis: 21,802 22. St Louis, MO: 19,542——-22. Cleveland: 17,739————-22. Grand Rapids: 19,176 23. Pittsburgh, PA: 18,874—–23. Grand Rapids: 16,615——–23. Cleveland: 18,830 24. Cincinnati: 12,461———–24. Cincinnati: 16,531————-24. Cincinnati: 16,896 25. Toledo: 9,475—————–25. Toledo: 11,559—————–25. Akron: 10,024 26. Akron: 6,911——————26. Akron: 8,524——————–26. Toledo: 9,257 27. Dayton: 3,245—————-27. Dayton: 5,102——————-27. Dayton: 7,381 28. Youngstown: 1,605———28. Youngstown: 3,695————28. Youngstown: 1,058
Here’s the 2000-2015 total change.
And the 2000-2015 change by %.
So Columbus has an above average total and growth compared to its peers nationally.
