New Jersey’s Immigrant Population Fifth-Largest in the United States
New Jersey’s immigrant population is booming. In a recent NJ.com article, Reporter Carla Astudillo analyzes census data from 2005 through 2016 to compare the growth of the New Jersey’s foreign-born population to its native-born. With 242,000 new immigrants calling New Jersey home, the state’s foreign-born population increased 14.3 percent, when compared to only a .32 percent increase in the state’s native-born population.
In Phillipsburg – a small town in Warren County, New Jersey—the foreign-born population grew by 132% to round out the top 13 towns, while Alloway Township, in Salem County, had an immigrant population boom – ranking as the top New Jersey town, with a 667% increase in its foreign-born population.
Astudillo writes that “New Jersey has the fifth-largest immigrant population in the country, behind California, Texas, New York, and Florida,” which, continues Astudillo, “makes the immigrant boom really important here, as the state relies on population to drive economic growth and productivity.”