U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published an update of its naturalization statistics. Highlights include:
- USCIS welcomed 818,500 new citizens in fiscal year (FY) 2024. Although this was a 7% decrease from last year, the 3-year total was more than 2.6 million new citizens.
- Among the top five countries of birth for people naturalizing in FY 2024, Mexico was the lead country, with 13.1% of all naturalizations, followed by India (6.1%), the Philippines (5.0%), the Dominican Republic (4.9%), and Vietnam (4.1%). The top five countries of birth comprised 33% of the naturalized citizens in FY 2024.
- Of all citizens naturalized in FY 2024, 70% resided in 10 states (in descending order): California, Florida, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Washington. More than 50% resided in the top four states.
- The top five cities (including boroughs) where people who naturalized resided were (in descending order): Miami, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Houston, and Los Angeles.
- The top five Core Based Statistical Areas where people who naturalized resided were (in descending order): New York-Newark-Jersey City (14.4%), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (6.9%), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (6.5%), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (3.9%), and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (3.2%).
- More than 37% of citizens naturalized in FY 2024 were 30 to 44 years old. The median age of those naturalizing in FY 2024 was 42 years. About 17% were younger than 30, and 23 new citizens were centenarians (100 and older).
- Women made up more than 55% of those naturalized in FY 2024, and they were the majority in every age group.
- Most people who naturalized came to the United States as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens or through family-sponsored preference categories, followed by employment-based preference categories, refugees and asylees, and the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.
The table below shows approved naturalizations for FY 2024 for the top 10 countries:
Country of Birth | FY 2024 Naturalizations |
Mexico | 107,700 |
India | 49,700 |
Philippines | 41,200 |
Dominican Republic | 39,900 |
Cuba | 33,700 |
Vietnam | 33,400 |
China | 24,300 |
El Salvador | 21,900 |
Jamaica | 20,000 |
Colombia | 17,900 |
All Others | 428,800 |
Total | 818,500 |
Source: USCIS, Electronic Immigration System.