Immigration Levels Are the Highest in U.S. History—These Metros Have the Largest Number of Foreign-Born Residents

Immigration levels hit their highest point in U.S. history under the Biden administration; and that has had a significant impact on the housing market, with more foreign-born residents flowing into some of the top markets.

The country has seen a net increase of more than 8 million immigrations over the last four years, most of whom have settled in the South, according to a New York Times analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Control data. More than half, about 5 million, were unauthorized migrants, according to the report.

The Times’ analysis of data from the Congressional Budget Office and U.S. Census Bureau also found that a record high of 15.2% of the U.S. population today is foreign-born, similar to what it was during the vast European migration in the 1850s to early 1900s.

Now, though, much of the immigration is traveling across the 1,255-mile border that separates California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas from Mexico.

The record number of immigrants entering the country appears to have profoundly impacted the area’s politics. In the last election, border towns that were once Democratic strongholds voted for President-elect Donald Trump.

For example, Cameron County, TX, at the southernmost tip of the state, voted overwhelmingly blue in the 2016 and 2020 elections by margins of 30 points and 10 points, respectively. Trump took a 5-point lead in this past election over Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

Yet, immigrant populations are undoubtedly driving growth in several of the country’s major cities. A study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University found that foreign-born householders made up around 25% of household growth from 2019 to 2023, even as the number of native-born households grew.

Many of the cities expected to have the most growth in 2025 have large foreign-born populations

Despite the influx of immigrant populations into the country over the last four years, Harvard’s Housing Center cites an increase in millennial homebuyers as the cause of the rise in housing prices—not immigrant populations.

Not surprisingly, many of the cities Realtor.com® expects to see the most growth in price and sales over the next year are in Sun Belt states with high numbers of foreign-born residents.

Half of the Realtor.com list of the top 20 housing markets for 2025 included Texas, Florida, Arizona, and other states in the region. These areas are also experiencing huge growth in foreign-born populations.

“A lot of the top markets for growth in 2025 have an outsized share of foreign-born residents,” says Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “The No. 1 market, Colorado Springs, is an exception; but Miami, El Paso, Orlando, and McAllen all have higher shares of foreign-born citizens.”

In fact, the average share of foreign-born residents in the top 10 markets is 4.6 percentage points higher than the average share in the 100 largest markets.

Take Miami, for example, which came in second on the Realtor.com list of top markets for 2025. And its where 42% of the city’s 440,000 residents are foreign-born. Meanwhile, 22.5% of the 678,958 residents in El Paso, TX, (No. 6 on our list) and 25.8% of the 146,593 residents in McAllen, TX, are foreign-born (No. 5 on our list).

Orlando, FL, has a population of 320,000 and was ranked 13th on our list of the hottest cities for 2025, and 21.9% of the population is foreign-born.

These cities are seeing an outsized amount of international interest

It’s worth noting that these cities also brought in outsized interest from international buyers, likely partly due to immigrant populations establishing roots on the ground.

El Paso had six times the international view share of the average top 100 market; McAllen received five times the global interest of other cities; and Miami had two-and-a-half times that of the average top 100 market.

While Colorado Springs, CO; Virginia Beach, VA; and Phoenix didn’t have as many foreign-born residents, they did see a higher share of international traffic than the top 100 metros average in the year ending August 2024.

The future of U.S. immigration

But will this trend reverse?

Trump has pledged to make securing the border his top priority in office. He has said he will begin conducting mass deportations on his first day in office and has pledged to declare a national emergency, so he can use military assets to deport undocumented immigrants.

On Wednesday, Trump named his incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan, who has been a vocal opponent of current immigration laws. At a meeting with Chicago Republicans on Monday, Homan said local officials would have a problem if they didn’t “get the hell out of the way.” He also said the city would struggle because “your mayor sucks and your governor sucks.”

Under former mayor Rahm Emmanuel, Chicago enacted a Welcoming City Ordinance that forbids officials from asking residents about immigration status.