During the last decade, the number of latin immigrantss residing in North Carolina has remained relatively stable, but experienced a major change in its composition.
The Mexican population in the state was reduced, while the number of people from other countries in Central America, the Caribbean and South America grew.
This was revealed by a American Community Survey (ACS) report from the United States Census that compares the demographic composition of the immigrant population between the periods 2008-2012 and 2018-2022.
According to census data, in 2022 there were 867,946 immigrants in North Carolina. Of that figure, 434,000, that is, Almost half came from Latin America..
Compared to 2012, a decade ago, the Latino immigrant population grew by 18,000 people. This is a slight increase, just 4%. However, an important change was evident in the countries of origin of the immigrants in our community.
Latino immigrants in North Carolina
As reported by the census itself, “the population born abroad” is considered an immigrant. This concept includes all those who are not U.S. citizens at birth, including those who become U.S. citizens by naturalization.
Regarding the origin of Latino immigrants in North Carolina, the census divides them into three regions: Central America (includes Mexico), the Caribbean and South America.
In total, more than 320,000 immigrants from Central America were counted. By a wide margin it is the region that contributes the largest number of Latino immigrants to North Carolina (74%). The large number of Central Americans in the state is mainly explained by the Mexican community, which continues to be number one. Although in recent years there has been a marked decrease.
For their part, South Americans represent 14% of the total Latin immigrants, while people from Caribbean countries are 11%.
The Mexican community is still the largest, but its population has decreased
As the census report indicates, the number of people born in Mexico who reside in North Carolina is 214,776. Although the figure places it as the main country of origin of immigrants in the state, ten years ago there were close to 50,000 more Mexicans. In total, it represents a decrease of 18%.
On the other hand, the rest of the countries in Central America, South America and the Caribbean saw their number of immigrants increase in North Carolina.
Among Central American countries, apart from Mexico, North Carolina leads immigration in Honduras (40,707), El Salvador (33,379) and Guatemala (22,964), in that order. The number of immigrants from the three countries in that region has grown in the last decade. But Honduras is the most striking case, with 16,064 more immigrants in 2022 than in 2012. The number represents an increase of 50%.
The number of people coming from South America also grew in the last 10 years in North Carolina. Colombia leads the list, with 18,275. This is about 7,000 more Colombians than a decade ago. They are followed by Venezuela (9,986) and Brazil (8,426).
In total there are 21,078 more South Americans in North Carolina than in 2012.
And the Caribbean countries are not far behind. In total there are 20,712 more immigrants in the state than a decade ago. From the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti are the communities most present in North Carolina.
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After the storm
A year ago, Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina. The Latino community responded with something stronger than the storm: solidarity.
🎧 In this episode, learn how Latino organizations transformed crisis into resilience.
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