This is a thread on Black African Immigration to the United States. Quite some things don't play out as you'd expect in terms of the overall data, some are extremely surprising.
Let's start with total numbers, as of 2018 there are 2 Mill+ Black African immigrants in the US. /1
81 % of all Black African immigrants come from West or East Africa, I'm stunned by the Kenyan numbers, more Kenyans than Somalis? where are the Kenyan immigrants hiding? This data doesn't capture undocumented migration + children born so bear that in mind. /2
In terms of where Black Africans live, NYC still stands as the most populated region, but it pales in terms of percentage representation to DC/Minneapolis. /3
This map also does well to establish the population distribution of Black Africans, we are not a very Western states oriented population group. /4
5/ Examining the age distribution of the group, Africans are exceptionally young even by immigrant standards, only 7 % of the group is 65+, I wonder if this is down to older Africans often retiring home? Lower life expectancies? Just a more recent immigration trend?
6/ In terms of when Africans arrived to the States, the trend is very recent, 70 % only arriving post 2000, this is in contrast to most other immigrant groups believe it or not.
7/ In terms of how Africans even come to the US, the vast majority come in through Immediate Family reunification + Refugee streams + Diversity Lottery process. I wouldn't be surprised if the DV lottery process played a huge role in downstream family reunification apps.
8/ Now time to dive into certain income/employment related statistics
- In 2017, 40 % of Africans held a bachelor’s degree+, compared to 31% of the total foreign-born population and 32 % of the U.S.-born population.
9/ Africans also work at a higher rate. About 75 % of Africans immigrants were in the civilian labor force, compared to 66 % of foreign-born and 62 % of born Americans.
- About 19 % of Africans lived in poverty, compared to 15 % of immigrants and 13 percent of the U.S. born.
10/ Now looking at average household income of some of the largest African nationality groups in the country
Average American household - $63,179
Average Black American - $43,862
South African American - $98,212
Ghanaian American - $69,021
Nigerian American - 68,658
11/ Incomes continued
Tanzanian American - $67,327
Egyptian American - 67,187
Kenyan American - $61,000
Ethiopian American - $36,000
Somali American - $29,200
12/ I may do a Africans in the UK data snapshot eventually, good idea?
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