During the fiscal year of 2023, 60,014 refugees were admitted to the United States. This is a significant increase from the fiscal year of 2022, when 25,465 refugees were admitted into the United States.

United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data was reported at 285.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 310.000 Person for 2016. United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data is updated yearly, averaging 374.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,987.000 Person in 2014 and a record low of 1.000 Person in 1990. United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

In the fiscal year of 2024, about 5,225 refugees arrived in the United States from Afghanistan, making it the greatest source of refugees admitted to the U.S. The total number of refugee arrivals in the U.S. amounted to 27,308 during the same FY.

United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 287,065.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 272,959.000 Person for 2016. United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 458,717.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 843,498.000 Person in 2006 and a record low of 262,023.000 Person in 2012. United States US: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

In the fiscal year of 2021, more male refugees arrived in the United States than female refugees. In that year, a total 5,486 female refugees arrived in the country. The total number of refugee arrivals in 2021 amounted to 11,454.

In the fiscal year of 2021, around 71 of the refugees that arrived in the United States were 75 years old or over. In that same year, 1,519 refugee arrivals were between the ages of five and nine years old. The total number of refugee arrivals that year amounted to 11,454.

Overview

At the end of the 2018 fiscal year, the U.S. had resettled 22,491 refugees -- a small fraction of the number of people who had entered in prior years. This is the smallest annual number of refugees since Congress passed a law in 1980 creating the modern resettlement system.

It's also well below the cap of 45,000 set by the administration for 2018, and less than thirty percent of the number granted entry in the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency. It's also significantly below the cap for 2019 announced by President Trump's administration, which is 30,000.

The Associated Press is updating its data on refugees through fiscal year 2018, which ended Sept. 30, to help reporters continue coverage of this story. Previous Associated Press data on refugees can be found here.

Data obtained from the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration show the mix of refugees also has changed substantially:

• The numbers of Iraqi, Somali and Syrian refugees -- who made up more than a third of all resettlements in the U.S. in the prior five years -- have almost entirely disappeared. Refugees from those three countries comprise about two percent of the 2018 resettlements.
• In 2018, Christians have made up more than sixty percent of the refugee population, while the share of Muslims has dropped from roughly 45 percent of refugees in fiscal year 2016 to about 15 percent. (This data is not available at the city or state level.)
• Of the states that usually average at least 100 resettlements, Maine, Louisiana, Michigan, Florida, California, Oklahoma and Texas have seen the largest percentage decreases in refugees. All have had their refugee caseloads drop more than 75% when comparing 2018 to the average over the previous five years (2013-2017).

The past fiscal year marks a dramatic change in the refugee program, with only a fraction as many people entering. That affects refugees currently in the U.S., who may be waiting on relatives to arrive. It affects refugees in other countries, hoping to get to the United States for safety or other reasons. And it affects the organizations that work to house and resettle these refugees, who only a few years ago were dealing with record numbers of people. Several agencies have already closed their doors; others have laid off workers and cut back their programs.

Because there is wide geographic variations on resettlement depending on refugees' country of origin, some U.S. cities have been more affected by this than others. For instance, in past years, Iraqis have resettled most often in San Diego, Calif., or Houston. Now, with only a handful of Iraqis being admitted in 2018, those cities have seen some of the biggest drop-offs in resettlement numbers.

About This Data

Datasheets include:

• Annual_refugee_data: This provides the rawest form of the data from Oct. 1, 2008 – Sept. 30, 2018, where each record is a combination of fiscal year, city for refugee arrivals to a specific city and state and from a specific origin. Also provides annual totals for the state.
• City_refugees: This provides data grouped by city for refugee arrivals to a specific city and state and from a specific origin, showing totals for each year next to each other in different columns, so you can quickly see trends over time. Data is from Oct. 1, 2008 – Sept. 30, 2018, grouped by fiscal year. It also compares 2018 numbers to a five-year average from 2013-2017.
• City_refugees_and_foreign_born_proportions: This provides the data in City_refugees along with data that gives context to the origins of the foreign born populations living in each city. There are regional columns, sub-regional columns and a column specific to the origin listed in the refugee data. Data is from the American Community Survey 5-year 2013-2017 Table B05006: PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION. ### Caveats According to the State Department: "This data tracks the movement of refugees from various countries around the world to the U.S. for resettlement under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program." The data does not include other types of immigration or visits to the U.S.

The data tracks the refugees' stated destination in the United States. In many cases, this is where the refugees first lived, although many may have since moved.

Be aware that some cities with particularly high totals may be the locations of refugee resettlement programs -- for instance, Glendale, Calif., is home to both Catholic Charities of Los Angeles and the International Rescue Committee of Los Angeles, which work at resettling refugees.

About Refugee Resettlement

The data for refugees from other countries - or for any particular timeframe since 2002 - can be accessed through the State Department's Refugee Processing Center's site by clicking on "Arrivals by Destination and Nationality."

The Refugee Processing Center used to publish a state-by-state list of affiliate refugee organizations -- the groups that help refugees settle in the U.S. That list was last updated in January 2017, so it may now be out of date. It can be found here.

For general information about the U.S. refugee resettlement program, see this State Department description. For more detailed information about the program and proposed 2018 caps and changes, see the FY 2018 Report to Congress.

Queries

The Associated Press has set up a number of pre-written queries to help you filter this data and find local stories. Queries can be accessed by clicking on their names in the upper right hand bar.

• Find Cities Impacted - Most Change -- Use this query to see the cities that have seen the largest drop-offs in refugee resettlements. Creates a five-year average of how many refugees of a certain origin have come in the past, and then measures 2018 by that. Be wary of small raw numbers when considering the percentages!
• Total Refugees for Each City in Your State -- Use this query to get the number of total refugees who've resettled in your state's cities by year.
• Total Refugees in Your State -- Use this query to get the number of total refugees who've resettled in your state by year.
• Changes in Origin over Time -- Use this query to track how many refugees are coming from each origin by year. The initial query provides national numbers, but can be filtered for state or even for city.
• Extract Raw Data for Your State -- Use this query to type in your state name to extract and download just the data in your state. This is the raw data from the State Department, so it may be slightly more difficult to see changes over time. ###### Contact AP Data Journalist Michelle Minkoff with questions, mminkoff@ap.org

Iran IR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 979,435.000 Person in 2017. This stayed constant from the previous number of 979,435.000 Person for 2016. Iran IR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 1,071,927.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,404,995.000 Person in 1991 and a record low of 857,354.000 Person in 2013. Iran IR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Iran – Table IR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Turkey TR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data was reported at 57,885.000 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 59,558.000 Person for 2015. Turkey TR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data is updated yearly, averaging 59,558.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 227,232.000 Person in 2006 and a record low of 5,508.000 Person in 1990. Turkey TR: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Turkey – Table TR.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Syria SY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 569,774.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 562,823.000 Person for 2016. Syria SY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 427,424.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,955,236.000 Person in 2007 and a record low of 284,856.000 Person in 1990. Syria SY: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Syrian Arab Republic – Table SY.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

In the fiscal year of 2020, *** refugees from Afghanistan had been admitted into the United States. As of July 31, another *** Afghan refugees were admitted into the country in the 2021 fiscal year. The fiscal year of 2016 saw the largest number of Afghan refugees admitted, at *****.

Mexico MX: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data was reported at 8,963.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6,202.000 Person for 2016. Mexico MX: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data is updated yearly, averaging 7,582.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 360,991.000 Person in 1992 and a record low of 1,055.000 Person in 2008. Mexico MX: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Asylum data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Since the 1980s, the Office of Refugee Resettlement 1 has conducted the Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR), which collects information on refugees during their first five years after arrival in the U.S. The ASR is the only scientifically collected source of national data on refugees’ progress toward self-sufficiency and integration. ORR uses the ASR results alongside other information sources to fulfill its Congressionally mandated reporting requirement following the Refugee Act of 1980. In the spring of 2021, ORR completed its 54th Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR). The data from the ASR offer a window into respondents’ first five years in the United States and show the progress that refugee families made towards learning English, participating in the workforce, and establishing permanent residence. This public use data deposit is only for the 2020 ASR with future years likely to be added to the ICPSR archive.[1] The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) serves refugees and other humanitarian entrants, including asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Special Immigrant Visa holders, Amerasians, victims of human trafficking, and unaccompanied children. By providing these arrived populations with critical resources, ORR promotes their economic and social well-being. Of these populations, the Annual Survey of Refugees focuses solely on refugees who have come to the U.S. in the past five fiscal years.

Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Overseas Refugee Arrival Data FY 2000 sorted by country of origin and state of initial resettlement in the United States.

This page presents information on resettlement arrivals of refugees, with or without UNHCR assistance. This dataset is based on Government statistics and, in principle, excludes humanitarian admissions.

Laos LA: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data was reported at 7,051.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 7,232.000 Person for 2016. Laos LA: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data is updated yearly, averaging 14,362.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 28 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 135,633.000 Person in 1990 and a record low of 7,051.000 Person in 2017. Laos LA: Refugee Population: by Country or Territory of Origin data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Laos – Table LA.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.; ; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Statistics Database, Statistical Yearbook and data files, complemented by statistics on Palestinian refugees under the mandate of the UNRWA as published on its website. Data from UNHCR are available online at: www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.; Sum;

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has conducted the Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR), which collects information on refugees during their first five years after arrival in the U.S. The ASR is the only scientifically-collected source of national data on refugees’ progress toward self-sufficiency and integration. ORR uses the ASR results alongside other information sources to fulfill its Congressionally-mandated reporting following the Refugee Act of 1980. Historically, the microdata from these surveys have generally been unavailable to researchers.

In the spring of 2019, ORR completed its 52nd Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR). The data from the ASR offer a window into respondents’ first five years in the United States and show the progress that refugee families made towards learning English, participating in the workforce, and establishing permanent residence.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Households and individuals

Universe

Refugees aged 16 years old or over at the time of interview who arrived in the U.S. during FY 2013-2017 inclusive.

While this covers five distinct fiscal years of refugee entrants, there is special policy/analytic interest in collapsing years into three domains as follows:

• Cohort 1 – Refugees entering FY 2013 and FY 2014, • Cohort 2 – Refugees entering FY 2015 and FY 2016, and • Cohort 3 – Refugees entering FY 2017

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 2018 ASR employed a stratified probability sample design of refugees. The first stage of selection was the household (PA) and the second stage was the selection of persons within households. Principal features of the sample design are highlighted below.

The 2018 ASR design replicated the 2017 and 2016 ASR design, which used a full cross-sectional national sample of refugees entering within the past five years. This section documents the research design, data collection and data processing protocols. It also presents outcomes (e.g., sample sizes) and paradata results such as response rates.

The population of interest - the study population - for the 2018 ASR is defined as refugees entering the U.S. between FY 2013 and FY 2017, inclusive, who are at ages 16 and over at the time of the 2018 ASR interview3. Because the interviews were conducted in early 2019, the population includes a small number of refugee respondents younger than 16 at the time of arrival to the U.S.

The 2018 ASR targeted 1,500 completed interviews from refugee households entering the U.S. between FY 2013-2017. The sample was designed to allow for separate estimates and analyses from each of the three designated cohorts. Moreover, the design needed to accommodate both household- and person-level analyses. The sample was drawn as fresh cross sections by cohort; there was no longitudinal component. The survey objectives required that - in addition to primary stratification by cohort - the sample of households (i.e., PAs) be stratified at least by year of entry and geographic region of origin.

The 2018 ASR sampling frame was ORR's Refugee Arrivals Data System (RADS) dataset.

Within each of the three cohort strata, the following factors were used for stratification: year of arrival (for cohorts 1 and 2 only), geographic region, native language, age group, gender, and family size at arrival (1, 2, 3+ persons). Missing contact information status was also used as a stratification variable for cohort 3 due to an unusual degree of missing contact information among FY 2017 arrivals. Proportionate stratified samples were drawn independently within cohort.

Sampling deviation

The 2018 ASR employed a sample management plan integrating the sample design and field protocols to include locating subjects, contacting them and conducting telephone interviews. A sample of 3,050 PAs was released at the start of data collection. A reserve sample of about 6,100 was held in case some portion was needed to meet the interview target of 1,500.

Mode of data collection

Telephone interview

Response rate

An overall response rate of 21 percent was achieved. The response rate was driven by the ability to locate and speak to (1,514+510)/ 7,315 = 28 percent of the sample, meaning that two thirds of the sample could neither be located nor (if located) successfully contacted.

The overall response rates decreased with time since arrival to the U.S., varying from 17 percent for FY 2013-14 refugees to 23 percent for FY 2015-16 refugees and a high of 25 percent for FY 2017 refugees.

In the fiscal year of 2024, ****** refugees from Syria had been admitted into the United States. This was a slight increase from the previous fiscal year, when ****** Syrian refugees were admitted to the U.S.