To inform policy debates and equip decisionmakers and communities with an understanding of the children in immigrant families who could be affected by changes to immigration policy, this brief describes the number and characteristics of children in the US who have one or more immigrant parents, nationally and across states.

Why This Matters

Policymakers are introducing and considering numerous changes to immigration policy. Prior research has found severe effects of immigration enforcement policies on the mental health, financial stability, and educational outcomes of children in immigrant families.

What We Found

• Children of immigrants constituted 1 in 4 children in the US in 2022–23: 26.0 percent of children from birth to age 17 were living with at least one immigrant parent, and most of these children were born in the US.
• Nearly all children of immigrants were themselves US citizens, and most had at least one US-citizen parent. An estimated 64.2 percent were US citizens who had at least one US-citizen parent. Another 25.5 percent were US citizens with only noncitizen parents, while 10.3 percent were noncitizens.
• The vast majority of immigrant parents were not new arrivals to the country. The parents of 41.7 percent of children of immigrants had been living in the US for 20 years or more, and the parents of an additional 31.1 percent had been living in the US for 10 to 19 years.
• Though 91.7 percent of children of immigrants were in families with substantial work hours, 42.1 percent lived in families who had low incomes. At the same time, most children of immigrants (57.9 percent) were not in families with low incomes.
• Children of immigrants lived in every state in the US; they made up more than 1 in 5 children in 20 states and DC.

How We Did It

Estimates are drawn from the Urban Institute’s Children of Immigrants Data Tool based on averaged 2022 and 2023 American Community Survey data from IPUMS. Children of immigrants are defined as children from birth to age 17 who live with at least one immigrant parent.