What does this measure?

The percentage of the population in a region that is foreign-born, which includes anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth. People who become U.S. citizens through naturalization are considered foreign-born.

Why is this important?

Foreign-born Americans and their descendants have historically been a main driver of population growth, and that role will only increase in the future. According to the Pew Research Center, new immigrants and their children and grandchildren accounted for 55% of the U.S. population increase from 1965 to 2015, from 193 million to 324 million. Pew projects the population will grow to 441 million in 2065, and 88% of the increase is linked to future immigrants and their descendants. This measure also is a reflection of the composition of a community, which can offer insight into its levels of diversity.

How is our county performing?

In 2013-17, 5% of Erie County's population was foreign-born. This was less than Pennsylvania, at 7%, and the U.S., at 13%. Since 2000, Erie's foreign-born population increased by 2 percentage points, similar to the state and nation, both of which had increases of over 2%.

In the City of Erie, 7% of the population was born outside the U.S. in 2013-17, an increase of 3 percentage points since 2000.

How do we compare to similar counties?

Erie County's foreign-born population was smaller than in Broome County, NY, at 7%, and Luzerne County, PA, at 6%, but larger than Stark County, OH, at 2%. Compared to Erie, Luzerne had a larger increase in its foreign-born population since 2000, at 4 percentage points, while Broome had a slight increase of 2 points and Stark was flat.

Notes about the data

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are released annually in December.

It should be noted, that according to local resettlement agencies, the number of self-identified immigrants or refugees is estimated to around 16,000 in Erie County. Some of these individuals may not counted in the census.