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?

Historically, foreign-born Americans and their descendants have been a key driver of population growth across the U.S. This metric serves as an indicator of community diversity and regional growth, highlighting where specialized services like language and resettlement services may be required. However, increased federal immigration enforcement has introduced new complexities: high-density immigrant communities may face increased scrutiny, and a subsequent decline in national immigration rates may trigger population stagnation or decline.

How is the region performing?

The foreign-born share of the population in the Mid-Hudson Valley increased slightly from 10% in 2010-14 to 12% in 2020-24. The percentage in 2020-24 was the same as New York State excluding New York City (12%) and slightly lower than the U.S. (14%). The state and nation also had slight increases in foreign-born population since 2010-14.

Among the region's counties, foreign-born residents represented the largest share of the overall population in 2020-24 in Putnam and Orange counties, both at 14%, followed by Sullivan, at 13%. Greene had the smallest share, at 5%. In raw numbers, Orange had the largest foreign-born population (about 55,600 residents), followed by Dutchess (about 34,900 residents). The two smallest were Greene, with only about 2,500 foreign-born residents, and Columbia, at 4,500.

Among the region's larger communities, the City of Newburgh (Orange County) and the City of Poughkeepsie (Dutchess County) had some of the largest percentages of foreign-born residents, at 24% and 23% respectively, quite a bit higher than the region as a whole.

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. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. 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.