African Immigration to the United States

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Africans immigrants (U.S.)


Total population
621,000 (0.2% of U.S. population)^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Washington, D.C., New York, Minneapolis, California
Languages
American English, Arabic, Yoruba, Ashanti, Igbo, French, Wolof, Hausa, others
Religions
Christianity, Islam, Traditional, others
Related ethnic groups
Sub-Saharan Africans, African Americans, Nigerian Americans, Africans

Africans immigrants (U.S.), in the scope of this article, are recent immigrants to the United States from continental Africa and their descendants.

This group is to be distinguished from African Americans descended from American slaves, as well Americans with roots in other parts of the African diaspora. "African", in the scope of this article, can include Africans of different races.

Relations between Africans and established African American groups have been complicated.^[2]. However, like many immigrant populations, Africans are characterized as being hard-working. Many African immigrants also come to the United States with college degrees in hand, contributing to the brain drain in their respective countries.^[3]

1 Educational Attainment
2 Income levels
3 Demographics
4 Population
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Educational Attainment

Africans also have the highest educational attainment rates of any immigrant group in the United States with higher levels of completion than the stereotyped Asian American model minority.^[4] It is not only the first generation that does well, as estimates indicate that a highly disproportionate percentage of black students at elite universities are African or the children of African immigrants. Harvard University, for example, has estimated that two-thirds of their black population is not comprised of traditional Black Americans.^[5] This is true for other universities such as Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Duke and Berkeley.^[6] As a result, the benefits of affirmative action are not efficiently serving traditional multi-generational black american who are decendents of slaves.^[7] African immigrants tend to come from the educated middle to upper class of their respective country. The non-traditional Black Americans also include recent immigrants from other areas of the diapora, like Afro-Caribbean people.

Areas	U.S. Population	All Immigrants	African Immigrants	Asian Americans	Europe, Russia & Canada	Latin, South America & Carribbean
Not Fluent in English	0.6%	30.5%	7.6%	23.4%	11.5%	44.0%
Less Than High School	17.1%	39.1%	12.1%	21.2%	23.5%	57.4%
College Degree	23.1%	23.3	43.8%	42.5%	28.9%	9.1%
Advanced Degree	2.6%	4.2	8.2%	6.8%	5.8%	1.9%

SOURCE: 2000 US CENSUS

[edit] Income levels

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, income levels among Africans are also typically higher than Black Americans. This can be attributed to the higher education levels. However, Africans still earn on average less than Whites and Asians with similar or lower levels of education, suggesting ongoing discrimination^[8]

[edit] Demographics

**Metros with largest African-born population (2000 Census)**
Metropolitan Area	African Population	% of Black total	% of Total Metro Population
Washington, DC, MD-VA-WV	80,281	6.1	1.6
New York, NY	73, 851	3.4	0.8
Atlanta, GA	34,302	2.9	0.8
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI	27,592	15.4	0.9
Greater Los Angeles Area	25,829	2.7	0.3
Boston, MA-NH	24,231	9.8	0.7
Houston, TX	22,683	3.1	0.5
Chicago, IL	19,438	1.2	0.2
Dallas, TX	19,134	3.6	0.5
Philadelphia, PA-NJ	16,344	1.6	0.3

It is estimated that the current population of African Immigrants is over 600,000^[9]. Countries with the most immigrants to the U.S. are Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia, and South Africa.

Africans typically congregate in urban areas, moving to suburban areas over time. They are also less likely to live in segregated areas.^[10] The goals of Africans vary tremendously. While some look to create new lives in the U.S., some plan on using the resources and skills gained to go back and help their countries of origin. Either way, African communities contribute millions to the economies of Africa by sending money to their family members.

Immigrants from Africa typically settle in heavily urban areas upon arrival into the U.S. Areas such as Washington, DC, New York, and Minneapolis have heavy concentrations of African immigrant populations relative to the general black population. Often there are clusters of nationalities within these cities. For instance, Washington, DC has a large Ghanaian and Ethiopian communities, Minneapolis has a large Somali population, and Houston's Africans are predominately Nigerian. The longer they live in the United States, they more likely they are to live in suburban areas.

[edit] Population

**African Immigrants (U.S.) Ancestries in the 2000 US Census**^[11]
Ancestry	1990	1990 % of US population	2000	2000 % of US population	Percent change from 1990 to 2000
Ethiopian	27,200	neglible (no data)	86,918	neglible (no data)	219.6%
Ghanaian	14,900	neglible (no data)	49,944	neglible (no data)	235.2
Nigerian	35,300	neglible (no data)	165,481	neglible (no data)	368.8%
South Africa	15,690	neglible (no data)	45,569	neglible (no data)	190.4%
Other	136,910	neglible (no data)	292,088	neglible (no data)	113.3%
TOTAL	230,000	0.1%	640,000	0.2%	166.9%