DHS Releases FY2017 Naturalization Data

By Preston Huennekens on September 18, 2018

Each year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publishes its annual Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. The Yearbook contains a trove of data, with FY 2016's Yearbook containing 41 tables published in a 115-page document. Helpfully, new tables are released as they become available throughout the year.

The first of FY 2017's tables have been released on the DHS website. Tables 20-24 measure naturalizations to the United States. In the Department's own words, "Naturalization confers U.S. citizenship upon foreign nationals who have fulfilled the requirements Congress established in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). After naturalization, foreign-born citizens enjoy nearly all of the same benefits, rights, and responsibilities that the Constitution protects for native-born U.S. citizens, including the right to vote."

Observing trends in naturalization since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 gives us a sense of how desirable U.S. citizenship actually is based on the total number of naturalizations, which have risen considerably since 1965.


Figure 1. Persons Naturalized, FY 1965 – 2017



Between 1965 and 1985, naturalizations remained relatively stable at under 200,000 per year. From 1986 to 1995, they remained at least under 500,000 annually. Then, a period of great fluctuation began in 1996 and continued until 2009, when numbers soared to over one million in 1996 and 2008, but also dipped to below 500,000 in 1998 and 2003. Since 2009, naturalizations have stabilized somewhat between 600,000 and 800,000 per year.

In FY 2017, the U.S. naturalized 707,265 people, 6.5 percent fewer than in FY 2016. The United States has naturalized 7.49 million people in the last 10 fiscal years.

The following table shows how naturalizations from North America and Asia have dominated the overall totals in recent years. Individuals from these regions made up 72.6 percent of all naturalizations in FY 2017.


Region FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017
Africa 71,492 72,338 61,851
Asia 261,374 271,733 255,306
Europe 78,074 74,344 65,141
North America 247,492 259,845 258,371
Oceania 3,811 3,953 3,327
South America 67,927 70,821 63,063
Unknown 89 26 206

The following table shows the top-10 countries of birth for individuals who naturalized in FY 2015, 2016, and 2017. Mexico and India continue to drive naturalization numbers, with Mexico alone responsible for 16.8 percent of all naturalizations. The top-10 countries of birth represented 51.9 percent of all naturalizations across 201 unique places of birth.


Country of Birth FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017
Mexico 105,958 103,550 118,559
India 42,213 46,188 50,802
China, People's Republic 31,241 35,794 37,674
Philippines 40,815 41,285 36,828
Dominican Republic 26,665 31,320 29,734
Cuba 25,770 32,101 25,961
Vietnam 21,976 24,848 19,323
El Salvador 16,930 17,213 16,941
Colombia 17,207 18,601 16,184
Jamaica 16,566 16,772 15,087

The following table shows the top-five states of residence for people who naturalized in FY 2017. The fact that the number of naturalized persons in each state is high is not surprising, given that California, Texas, Florida, and New York are in the top-five states for total population in the country according to Census estimates. New Jersey is the eleventh most populous state.


State or Territory of Residence 2015 2016 2017
California 155,979 151,830 157,364
New York 90,368 93,376 86,407
Florida 81,960 88,764 69,485
Texas 65,467 63,945 50,552
New Jersey 34,857 40,344 38,611

New Mexico, Idaho, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Indiana saw the greatest increase in naturalization totals between FY 2016 and 2017.


State or Territory of Residence 2015 2016 2017 Pct. Change
New Mexico 2,452 2,524 3,312 23.80%
Idaho 1,427 1,533 1,994 23.10%
Vermont 570 589 760 22.50%
New Hampshire 1,570 1,501 1,897 20.90%
Indiana 4,686 5,113 6,420 20.40%

The following table shows persons naturalized by occupation in FY 2017. What is most striking is the number of individuals who are not employed in any capacity. Over 17.3 percent of individuals who naturalized are not working and are counted as those with the characteristics "no occupation/not working outside home", "homemakers", "unemployed", and "retirees".


Employment Characteristic Total Female Male Unknown
Total 707,265 396,234 310,987 44
Management, professional, and related occupations 154,715 81,082 73,632 1
Service occupations 79,306 50,543 28,762 1
Sales and office occupations 51,743 34,501 17,242 -
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations 3,107 1,170 1,937 -
Construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations 18,125 2,521 15,604 -
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations 61,433 18,537 42,896 -
Military 3,351 714 2,637 -
No occupation/not working outside home 122,922 87,375 35,547 -
- Homemakers 29,592 28,594 998 -
- Students or children 17,150 9,729 7,421 -
- Retirees 17,059 8,722 8,337 -
- Unemployed 59,121 40,330 18,791 -
Unknown 212,563 119,791 92,730 42