See the States That Gained the Most People From Abroad, Mapped

The United States has a long history of welcoming immigrants who have come from all over the world to be a part of the American cultural fabric. Some families have records dating back to the country's founding, when their ancestors first arrived; others are immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of new immigrants to the United States has declined in the year ending July 2025 compared to the year prior, but the country continues to see immigrants arrive on its shores. From July 2024 to July 2025, around 1.3 million people moved to the United States from abroad. That number is lower than the 2.7 million who came to the U.S. from July 2023 to July 2024.

Despite the decline, every U.S. state saw a net gain in residents from abroad, with some seeing more new residents than others. Here are the states that saw the biggest and smallest gains, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, per Visual Capitalist.

Two states welcome more than a quarter of immigrants

Texas and Florida dominated the list of states with the most people moving from abroad. These states welcomed 27% of the 1.26 million international arrivals who entered the country that year. California came in third place, while New York and New Jersey rounded out the top five states.

Florida saw a net increase of 178,700 residents from abroad, which came to 14.2% of all international residents arriving in the U.S. that year. Texas had a rise of 167,500 residents from abroad, accounting for 13.3% of all arrivals to the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The two states still lag behind California, New York, and New Jersey when it comes to the number of overall residents who were foreign-born. California, for example, led all states with a total of 27.6% of its population being foreign-born in 2024, followed by New Jersey, where 25% of the population was born in another country, and New York, where 23.3% of its population falls into that category. 

Florida came in fourth, with 23.1% of its population born overseas in 2024. Texas, which had the second-highest increase in new residents from abroad, sat in ninth place for foreign-born residents in 2024, with 18.4% of its population born abroad, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The top 10 states that saw the largest net migration from July 2024 to July 2025 include:

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. California

4. New York

5. New Jersey

6. North Carolina

7. Washington

8. Illinois

9. Georgia

10. Virginia

Some states saw little migration

25 states and the District of Columbia welcomed less than 1% of the total number of net immigrants who came to the United States between 2024 and 2025.

West Virginia had the lowest number of residents moving there from abroad, with a net migration of only 244 residents. Second-place Wyoming only saw a net migration of 258 residents, followed by third-place Vermont, with only 623 net residents moving from abroad. The increases were so small that each state took on less than 0.1% of all immigrants into the United States between July 2024 and July 2025.

Three of the top five states that saw the smallest increases in migration—West Virginia, Wyoming, and Montana—also made the top five list of states with the lowest number of foreign-born residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. West Virginia and Montana top that list, with only 2.1% of the population in each state being foreign-born.

The 20 states with the lowest increases in their net population of immigrants added only a total of 72,197 people combined. That pales in comparison to New York, which had 95,634 residents move there from abroad between July 2024 and July 2025.

The top 10 states with the least number of net immigrants included:

1. West Virginia

2. Wyoming

3. Vermont

4. Montana

5. Alaska

6. Idaho

7. New Hampshire

8. North Dakota

9. New Mexico

10. South Dakota