A new Migration Policy Institute report shows that Mexican immigrants remain the largest immigrant group in the United States, while their population continues to change due to migration patterns, economics, and policy shifts.
The 11.1 million Mexican immigrants in the United States are the largest immigrant group in the country: they represent 22 percent of the total foreign-born population and 40 percent of all undocumented immigrants, according to a new demographic profile developed by the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute (MPI).
The total number of Mexican immigrants in the United States has been declining over the past two decades and is projected to continue doing so in the immediate future.
Immigrants born in Mexico represent approximately a quarter of the total 40.5 million people in the United States of Mexican descent. Their profile is changing as a result of economic shifts in the country and the anti-immigrant policies implemented by the Trump administration.
“The Mexican-born population has increased fivefold since 1980, but has declined slightly from its peak in 2007, when it exceeded 11.7 million,” reported Andrés Ayala and Jeanne Batalova in this new MPI report.
In general, the Mexican-born population now residing in the United States has lived here longer, speaks less English, and is less likely to have obtained citizenship compared to immigrants from other countries.
Mexican immigrant households had an average income of $68,700 in 2024, below the median income for all immigrant households.
More than half of these Mexicans work in the service, construction, maintenance, or natural resources sectors.
Mexicans entering the United States are not distributed throughout the country. According to the new report, more than half of all Mexican-born immigrants were concentrated in California and Texas, with Illinois, Arizona, and Florida, among other states, having a significant Mexican presence.
Mexico is the primary country of origin for unauthorized (undocumented) immigrants in the United States. MPI estimates that in 2023, “there were approximately 5.5 million unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, representing 40 percent of the total 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. Mexicans accounted for 81 percent of the 495,300 active DACA recipients as of December 2025.”
The United States remains the primary destination for nearly all Mexicans migrating from their country, with 11.1 million of the 11.6 million Mexicans living outside of Mexico. Canada, Spain, Guatemala, Bolivia, Italy, Australia, and Panama are the other countries with significant Mexican populations.
