The Foreign-Born Population to 2010: A Prospective Analysis by Country of Birth, Age, and Duration of U.S. Residence

This article uses a variant of the cohort-component method to project the foreign-born population by country of birth, age, and duration of U.S. residence. These characteristics are important in shaping immigration's impacts on American society and, in particular, on U.S. housing and mortgage markets. Assuming a continuation of recent immigration levels and foreign-born emigration rates, the foreign-born population is projected to grow to 31.1 million in 2010. Growth is projected to be substantial among Latino and Asian immigrants. Rapid growth is also projected among immigrants ages 45 to 59 and immigrants who have resided in the United States for at least 20 years. These results indicate that the aggregate housing consumption of immigrants will rise substantially in the next 15 years as past waves of immigrants move up the housing consumption ladder with increased age and length of U.S. residence and as future waves bring new housing demand.