This report examines recent immigrants in rural and small town America, through analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. For many decades urban areas have been, and they remain, the destination of choice for the nation’s immigrants.

Recent evidence suggests, however, that many immigrant groups are dispersing away from traditional gateway cities. Many small towns and cities in every region of the country are contending with new challenges and opportunities brought by rapid increases in their immigrant populations.

To inform policy discussions of this important issue the report:

• Places the latest wave of immigration to the United States in historical and policy context;
• Calls attention to prevailing evidence on the residential preferences of the foreign born, including their movement away from metropolitan areas and their segregation from the native born in regards to neighborhood of residence;
• Pinpoints geographically and describes socio-economically places across the vast expanse of rural America that have received relatively large influxes of recent immigrants; and,
• Compares the characteristics of recent immigrants in rural areas both to their native-born counterparts in those areas, and to their foreign-born counterparts living in more urban locales.

The report suggests that while immigrants are still highly urban in their residential location, there is evidence of deconcentration, particularly to areas at the periphery of traditional settlement areas. However, rural counties with relatively high inflows of recently arrived immigrants can be found throughout the country. This includes, for example, a clear swath of counties in North Carolina and elsewhere in the Southeast, a pocket of counties in interior south Florida, rural counties in Arkansas and east Texas, counties along the Rio Grande, several pockets throughout the Heartland and upper Great Plains, and in the Mountain West and West Coast. ...

About the Author
Leif Jensen is a Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography at The Pennsylvania State University where he has been on the faculty since 1989.

From 2003 to 2006 he also served as Director of the Population Research Institute at Penn State. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his undergraduate training in Sociology at the University of Vermont. Dr. Jensen’s research interests are found within three broad areas.

The first is social stratification with emphasis on issues of poverty, employment, and household economic strategies in rural and urban areas. The second is demography with special attention to migration and immigration. The third is the sociology of economic development with a focus on Latin America.

His recent and ongoing research projects include studies of underemployment in the United States, the movement of immigrant groups to new destination communities in the U.S., the circumstances of youth in migrant farm worker families in Pennsylvania, and patterns of spatial inequality in Latin America. This work has been supported by grants from the USDA, NIH, The Russell Sage Foundation, and other sources.

Download New Immigrant Settlements in Rural America: Problems, Prospects, and Policies

PDF format, 996KB, 34Pages.

Leif Jensen
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA
A Carsey Institute Report on Rural America

Table of Contents
Foreword 6
Executive Summary 7
Introduction 8
A Brief History of U.S. Immigration 10
Background and Evidence 12
Immigration in Sullivan County, NY 13
Immigration’s role in rural poverty 16
Region by Region: Where Immigrants are Moving and Why? 17
The Northeast 17
The Southeast 17
The Heartland 18
Arkansas, East Texas, and the Rio Grande 18
Mountain West and the West Coast 18
Rural and Urban Areas Compared 19
High-Growth, Low-Growth Rural Counties 21
A Demographic Snapshot 22
Age composition 22
Race/ethnic composition 22
Marital status 23
Education 23
Employment and underemployment 24
Poverty 25
Food Stamp receipt 25
Home ownership 26
Health status 26
In summary 26
Research and Policy Directions 27
Data and Methods 29
References 31

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Building Knowledge for Rural America’s Families and Communities in the 21st Century

The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire conducts research and analysis on the challenges facing rural families and communities in New Hampshire, New England, and the nation.

The Institute sponsors independent, interdisciplinary research that documents trends and conditions in rural America, providing information and analysis to policy-makers, practitioners, the media, and the general public.

Through this work, the Carsey Institute contributes to public dialogue on policies that encourage social mobility, strengthen the middle class and build healthy, sustainable communities. The Institute also provides analytical resources to nonprofits working to improve family and community well-being.

The Carsey Institute was established in May 2002 through a generous gift from alumna and noted television producer Marcy Carsey.

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