Demographics
Foreign-Born Population

Increasing


Foreign-Born Population

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What does this measure?

The percentage of the population in a region that is foreign-born, which includes anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth. People who become U.S. citizens through naturalization are considered foreign-born.

Why is this important?

Foreign-born Americans and their descendants have historically been a main driver of population growth, and that role will only increase in the future. The Pew Research Center projects the population will grow to 441 million in 2065, with 88% of the increase is linked to future immigrants and their descendants. This measure also is a reflection of the composition of a community, which can offer insight into its levels of diversity.

How does our county compare?

In 2018-22, 5% of Lancaster County's population was foreign-born, up one percentage points from 2008-12. This was slightly lower than Pennsylvania, at 7%, and 9 percentage points lower than the nation, at 14%.

Among neighboring counties, there were smaller foreign-born populations in Lebanon and York (both 4%). There were larger foreign-born populations in the City of Lancaster (13%) and the counties of Chester (10%), Berks (8%), Dauphin (9%) and Cumberland (7%). The largest increases in this population from 2008-12 to 2018-22 were in the City of Lancaster, Dauphin County and Cumberland County (up 4, 3 and 2 percentage points, respectively). While the other counties showed very little change.

Notes on the data

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined 5 years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are released annually in December.

Foreign-Born Population
2008-122013-172018-22
Pennsylvania6%7%7%
Lancaster County4%5%5%
Lancaster City9%11%13%
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster9%11%12%
Cocalico School District3%*4%**3%*
Columbia Borough School District4%**2%**4%***
Conestoga Valley School District6%*6%*8%*
Donegal School District3%***2%*3%**
Eastern Lancaster County School District4%*3%*3%***
Elizabethtown Area School District2%**3%*4%*
Ephrata Area School District6%*5%*5%*
Hempfield School District5%*5%6%*
Lampeter-Strasburg School District2%*2%**4%*
Manheim Central School District2%**2%**2%**
Manheim Township School District8%9%9%
Penn Manor School District4%*3%*5%*
Pequea Valley School District0%***2%**2%**
Solanco School District2%**1%**2%**
Warwick School District2%**4%*3%**
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough3%***4%***4%***
Akron borough5%***7%***5%***
Christiana borough1%***2%***2%***
Columbia borough4%**2%**4%***
Denver township2%***3%***8%**
East Petersburg borough6%***4%***4%***
Elizabethtown borough2%***4%**6%***
Ephrata borough7%*4%*6%**
Lititz borough1%***4%***4%***
Manheim borough2%***0%***1%***
Marietta borough0%***1%***3%***
Millersville borough3%**5%***8%***
Mount Joy borough3%***3%***5%***
Mountville borough11%**9%***0%***
New Holland borough10%**6%***3%***
Quarryville borough6%***4%***7%***
Strasburg borough3%***3%***2%***
Terre Hill borough3%***2%***1%***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township0%***4%***1%***
Brecknock township2%***3%***1%***
Caernarvon township1%***0%***1%***
Clay township3%***5%***4%***
Colerain township1%***0%***1%***
Conestoga township6%***2%***2%***
Conoy township3%***2%***0%***
Drumore township1%***1%***0%***
Earl township3%***3%***2%***
East Cocalico township3%**7%***3%**
East Donegal township2%***1%***1%***
East Drumore township1%***1%***1%***
East Earl township3%***1%***5%***
East Hempfield township5%*6%*7%*
East Lampeter township6%**8%*10%*
Eden township0%***0%***0%***
Elizabeth township2%***2%***2%***
Ephrata township5%**4%*3%***
Fulton township3%***2%***1%***
Lancaster township8%*9%*9%*
Leacock township0%***3%***0%***
Little Britain township2%***1%***5%***
Manheim township8%9%9%
Manor township5%*3%**7%**
Martic township1%***2%***3%***
Mount Joy township3%***3%**5%**
Paradise township0%***1%***3%***
Penn township3%***2%***2%***
Pequea township2%***3%***2%***
Providence township2%***1%***1%***
Rapho township1%***2%***1%***
Sadsbury township1%***0%***4%***
Salisbury township0%***2%**1%***
Strasburg township1%***0%***0%***
Upper Leacock township5%**6%*5%***
Warwick township3%**5%**2%***
West Cocalico township2%***0%***1%***
West Donegal township1%***3%***1%***
West Earl township6%**4%**6%**
West Hempfield township4%***5%**6%*
West Lampeter township1%**2%**6%*
Berks County7%7%8%
Chester County9%9%10%
Cumberland County5%6%7%
Dauphin County6%7%9%
Lebanon County4%4%4%
York County3%4%4%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.




Number of Foreign-Born People
2008-122013-172018-22
Pennsylvania738,178841,731941,805
Lancaster County22,73026,20230,408
Lancaster City5,3716,7577,419
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster6,5908,2029,049
Cocalico School District598*945**766*
Columbia Borough School District468**205**415***
Conestoga Valley School District1,814*2,200*2,706*
Donegal School District579***473*657**
Eastern Lancaster County School District1,168*939*825***
Elizabethtown Area School District598**915*1,352*
Ephrata Area School District1,869*1,563*1,608*
Hempfield School District2,394*2,6113,069*
Lampeter-Strasburg School District375*420**1,107*
Manheim Central School District484**482**413**
Manheim Township School District2,9993,6584,001
Penn Manor School District1,529*1,323*2,431*
Pequea Valley School District67***456**368**
Solanco School District504**460**582**
Warwick School District654**1,317*916**
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough60***80***105***
Akron borough214***265***195***
Christiana borough8***22***16***
Columbia borough468**205**415***
Denver township91***126***302**
East Petersburg borough277***186***178***
Elizabethtown borough280***411**758***
Ephrata borough950*518*847**
Lititz borough111***397***425***
Manheim borough119***14***59***
Marietta borough5***16***70***
Millersville borough259**383***647***
Mount Joy borough203***234***420***
Mountville borough313**246***0***
New Holland borough523**353***194***
Quarryville borough154***110***201***
Strasburg borough92***75***51***
Terre Hill borough43***25***11***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township5***120***24***
Brecknock township153***215***95***
Caernarvon township41***18***66***
Clay township204***341***304***
Colerain township32***18***25***
Conestoga township231***89***62***
Conoy township96***56***0***
Drumore township21***19***0***
Earl township235***239***141***
East Cocalico township301**713***285**
East Donegal township177***92***107***
East Drumore township22***31***45***
East Earl township173***89***318***
East Hempfield township1,234*1,364*1,820*
East Lampeter township935**1,352*1,759*
Eden township7***9***11***
Elizabeth township96***68***68***
Ephrata township501**439*262***
Fulton township91***59***21***
Lancaster township1,251*1,451*1,608*
Leacock township17***166***17***
Little Britain township65***22***214***
Manheim township2,9993,6584,029
Manor township903*640**1,448**
Martic township51***80***139***
Mount Joy township320***296**534**
Paradise township12***71***186***
Penn township282***225***211***
Pequea township85***131***135***
Providence township107***72***41***
Rapho township83***243***143***
Sadsbury township32***11***127***
Salisbury township38***219**165***
Strasburg township41***12***0***
Upper Leacock township395**528*465***
Warwick township447**852**423***
West Cocalico township146***26***74***
West Donegal township96***283***120***
West Earl township484**320**482**
West Hempfield township570***815**1,071*
West Lampeter township210**327**1,050*
Berks County27,67529,54234,825
Chester County43,69848,46151,838
Cumberland County12,11514,87917,467
Dauphin County15,69720,44024,838
Lebanon County4,8545,2556,102
York County15,11916,83619,863

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.




INDICATORS TREND
Prekindergarten Participation Increasing
Student Performance on Grade 3 English Not Applicable
Student Performance on Grade 8 Math Not Applicable
High School Cohort Graduation Rate Increasing
Per-Student Spending Maintaining
Students Receiving Special Education Services Increasing
Rate of Foster Care Admissions Maintaining
Disengaged Youth Maintaining
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Plans of High School Graduates Not Applicable
Enrollment in Local Colleges Decreasing
College Graduation Rates Decreasing
Brain Drain/Gain Increasing
Education Levels of Adults by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Average Charitable Giving Maintaining
Voter Registration Rate Not Applicable
Voter Participation Rate Increasing
Age of Housing Stock Not Applicable
Violent Crime Rate Maintaining
Incarceration Rate Decreasing
Incarceration Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Population Density Increasing
Air Quality Decreasing
Water Use Decreasing
Waterways Impaired by Pollution Not Applicable
Change in Population Increasing
Change in Population by Age and Gender Not Applicable
Population by Age Not Applicable
Population by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People with Disabilities Maintaining
Foreign-Born Population Increasing
Language Diversity Increasing
Change in Total Jobs Increasing
Change in Employment by Sector Not Applicable
Sector Share of Total Jobs Not Applicable
Workers by Occupation Not Applicable
Change in Labor Force Maintaining
People Entering/Leaving County/Region for Work Not Applicable
Average Salary by Sector Not Applicable
Change in Average Salary Since 2000 Increasing
Female to Male Earnings Ratio Maintaining
Employer Size Not Applicable
Change in Number of Businesses by Sector Increasing
Change in Total Agricultural Sales Increasing
Spending for Local Government Maintaining
Spending for School Districts Maintaining
Children Living in Poverty Decreasing
Children in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty Decreasing
People Living in Poverty, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Veterans Living in Poverty Maintaining
Working Poor Decreasing
Median Household Income by Household Type Not Applicable
Median Household Income Maintaining
Median Household Income, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Living Wage Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Households Receiving SNAP by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Household Receiving Temporary Assistance Maintaining
Students Eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch Increasing
Median Home Value Maintaining
Occupied Housing Units Maintaining
Homeownership Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Cost of Homeownership by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Median Rent Maintaining
Cost of Renting Increasing
Households Without Vehicles Maintaining
Means of Transportation to Work, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People Without Health Insurance Decreasing
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Health Status Decreasing
Prevalence of Mental Illness Maintaining
Adults Who are Overweight or Obese Not Applicable
Mortality Rates Decreasing
Mortality Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Increasing
Fatal Drug Overdoses Increasing
Cancer Incidence Decreasing
Households With Internet Access Increasing
High-Tech Jobs Increasing
STEM Graduates Increasing
Science and Engineering Research and Development Maintaining
Single-Parent Families by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Education Levels of Adults by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Incarceration Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Population by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Children in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
People Living in Poverty, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Median Household Income, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Households Receiving SNAP by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Homeownership Rate, by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Cost of Homeownership by Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable
Early Prenatal Care by Mother's Race/Ethnicity Not Applicable


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