Finding Data & Statistics: Migration & Immigration

Migrant and Immigrant Population Demographics

Migration Policy Institute - Migration Data Hub
Includes country and comparative data, including many country profiles (with links) and US trends.
OECD iLibrary Migration indicators
In particular, note the table for Inflows of foreign population by nationality

Census Data
To find information about immigrants
1) Choose Guided Search
2) I'm looking for information about people.
3) Origins > Foreign Born
4) Choose a breakdown geography (e.g., state) for current residence
5) Are you looking for data for a race or ethnic group (race, ancestry, or tribe)?: click SELECT FROM DETAILED GROUPS
6) Type in country of birth (make sure it is added to your selections
7) Choose your tables to display.

Statistics collected by the Census Department:
American Community Survey
American Housing Survey
Annual Surveys of Governments
Census of Governments
Annual Economic Surveys
Decennial Census
Economic Census
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulation
Population Estimates Program
Puerto Rico Community Survey

United States Census Bureau: Foreign Born Population
United States Census data and reports about immigration. Data includes Census 2000 demographic profiles by country of birth. Reports primarily cover special topics and trends.
Ethnic diversity and immigration from Statistics Canada
United States Census Bureau: Migration/Geographic Mobility
Department of Homeland Security - Immigration Data & Statistics
Topics include naturalization, refugees, apprehensions, deportations, etc. Additional statistical reports are listed under the "Publications" link.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Includes H-1B, H-2A, and H2B employer data, naturalization statistics, and refugee processing data.
Global Internal Displacement Database
The database aims to provide comprehensive information on internal displacement worldwide. It covers all countries and territories for which IDMC has obtained data on situations of internal displacement, and provides data on situations of: internal displacement associated with conflict and generalized violence (2009-2022); displacement associated with sudden-onset natural hazard-related disasters (2008-2022)
data.unhcr.org
Information sharing portals with data about UNHCR and partners’ response to the current emergencies and other protracted refugee crises.

Other Statistical Resources

Yearbook of Immigration Statistics
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (formerly entitled Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service) is published by the US Office of Immigration Statistics, Office of Management, Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
International Organization for Migration (Intl Govt Org)
Intergovernmental body acting with its partners in the international community to assist in meeting the challenges of migration, advance understanding of migration issues, and uphold the dignity and well-being of migrants. Includes country synopses and publications such as the World Migration Reports.
California Demographic Reports - Immigration and Migration
Demographic research and analysis extracted from the 1990, 2000, and 2010 Censuses, the American Community Survey, various years of the Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, and migration (which describes movements within the same country or state) and immigration (which describes movements between countries).
UNdata
"A World of Data." Single search interface for data produced and collected by various United Nations (UN) organizations.
Dataset of World Refugee and Asylum Policies (DWRAP)
Contains de jure asylum and refugee policies for all 193 countries for the 70 years from 1951-2022. The DWRAP index aggregates policies from 5 fields: Access; Services; Livelihoods; Movement, and Citizenship and Participation; with values ranging from 0 to 1, where values closer to 1 indicate more liberal policies.

Country of Origin Background Information

Country Studies from the Library of Congress
Each online book contains historical and cultural background information on the country it covers. Formerly known as the Area Handbooks from the Department of the Army.
Human Development Report
Full text of UNDP Human Development Reports, from 1990 to the next to most current year, plus national Human Development Reports and an excellent statistics section on industrialized and developing countries. Includes the Human Development Index and related indicators for Health, Education, Income/Composition of Resources, Inequality, Gender, Poverty, Work, employment and vulnerability, Human Security, Trade and Financial Flows, Mobility and Communication, Environmental sustainability, Demography, Socio-economic sustainability.
MDG Monitor
A one-stop-shop for information on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), globally and at the country level. Statistics and project progress information are available by country and by goal.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) statistical institute website. Includes statistical data sets of world education and literacy indicators, and selected data from the UNESCO Statistical Yearbook.
UN Member States On the Record
Provides direct access to official documents reflecting the views of United Nations Member States by bringing together in one place documents available elsewhere.

Datasets/Microdata

Datasets are collections of numeric data that can be analyzed using specialized software such as Stata, SPSS, or R.

Put some thought into choosing your search terms and consider synonyms or alternative terms. AND, OR, and NOT can be used to combine or exclude search terms. Check the subject terms listed on your results for additional words to search.

Most databases have a help link. The help screens will usually explain how to best search for variables.

Pew Hispanic Center
A non-partisan research organization to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the United States. Downloadable datasets include the 2004 National Survey of Latinos: Politics and Civic Participation, the 2004 National Survey of Latinos: Education, and the 2002 National Survey of Latinos
Mesoamerican Migration Project
The Mesoamerican Migration Project (MMP) is a continuation and expansion of the Mexican Migration Project which was created in 1982 by an interdisciplinary team of researchers to further our understanding of the complex process of Mexican migration to the United States. The Mesoamerican Migration Project collects and analyzes data on migration from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to the United States.
Latin American Migration Project
Data on migration flows originating in Latin American countries.

Latinobarómetro Data
Standardized measures include: attitudes toward democracy, civic culture, economic issues, gender issues, the environment, inequality, social capital, and trade policy.

Description
Latinobarómetro is an annual public opinion survey conducted since 1995 by Latinobarómetro Corporation, a non-profit NGO based in Santiago, Chile. Each survey consists of approximately 19,000 interviews and represents over 400 million inhabitants and, since 2004, covers all 18 Latin American countries.

Many questions are standardized and therefore facilitate time-series analysis. Standardized measures include: attitudes toward democracy, civic culture, economic issues, gender issues, the environment, inequality, social capital, and trade policy. Results of the surveys are of interest to social and political actors, international organizations, governments and the media.

Note: A survey was not conducted in 1999.

Responsible Use Statement
Access to Latinobarometro data is restricted to enrolled students, faculty and staff at UC San Diego. These data may not be copied or redistributed in whole or part to third parties outside of UC San Diego. Please contact Data Services if you have any questions about Latinobarómetro survey data access and usage.

Please note that journal articles, conference papers, books, book chapters, and other publications or reports that employ Latinobarómetro data should acknowledge Latinobarómetro Corporation as the owner/source of these data and include a statement that the views expressed within the publications are solely those of the author.

Technical Notes
Data files are available for all 12 annual surveys in both SPSS (.sav) and Stata (.dta) formats. The documentation for each survey is also available in PDF format.

Please note that the Stata files differ from the original SPSS files distributed by the vendor in the following ways: 1. variable labels over 80 characters have been truncated to 80 characters, 2. SPSS user-defined missing values appear as regular values in Stata, and 3. variables containing a period character have been converted to an underscore character.
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
The Latin American Public Opinion Project has produced over sixty surveys analyzing public perceptions of the role of government, political tolerance, citizen participation, and corruption among other issues. Uniquely, it includes The Americas Barometer, which is viewed as the most comprehensive survey of democratic public opinion and behavior that covers the Americas.

LAPOP AmericasBarometer Data Playground
Analyze LAPOP data online (free for anyone).
LAPOP Datasets (2004-current) Licensed by UCSD
Download the 2004 - current datasets directly from LAPOP (UC San Diego students, faculty, staff only)
LAPOP Datasets repository (1978-2003) Licensed by UCSD
Download the repository data (pre-2004) from the UC San Diego Dataverse (UC San Diego students, faculty, staff only)

Eurobarometer
Public opinion polls conducted by the European Commission. Surveys and studies address major topics concerning European citizenship: enlargement, social situation, health, culture, information technology, environment, the Euro, defence, etc.
Eurobarometer data @ ICPSR

ICPSR Data Archive
The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) has been collecting and facilitating access to social science data for over 60 years and currently has nearly 21,000 studies with over 6.6 million variables. ICPSR maintains over a dozen thematic data collections for topics like health, crime, social media, elections, opinion polls, and more. To download data from ICPSR, UC San Diego affiliates can log in using the “access through your institution” option and authenticate with their single sign on (SSO) credentials. ICPSR also tracks citations of data hosted by ICPSR through the ICPSR Bibliography of Data-Related Publications. With about 116,000 related publications, this searchable database provides real examples of how researchers have analyzed the wide variety of data available through ICPSR.

Roper Center for Public Opinion: Immigration
1935-present. Located at the University of Connecticut, the Roper Center is the principal archive for summary-level (aggregate) and micro-level (raw) public opinion survey data from the major polling organizations in the United States and other nations.