The share of foreign-born residents in the United States climbed from 13.1% in 2005 to 15.9% in 2024, while the St. Louis metropolitan area saw a much smaller increase from 4.9% to 6.3% over the same period, according to a report published in August 2026 by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The analysis tracked shifts in foreign-born population shares and origin countries for both the nation and the St. Louis metro area, revealing diverging patterns between the two. India and China have emerged as increasingly prominent source countries in recent years, while Mexico remains the dominant origin nation for the U.S. overall.
Nationally, the foreign-born population share grew steadily except for a modest decline during the COVID-19 recession of 2020, the report found. Mexico consistently held the top spot as the largest origin country, accounting for 3.4% of U.S. residents in 2024, though this represents a drop from a peak of 3.9% in 2007. India, China, the Philippines, and El Salvador rounded out the top five source nations, all with shares below 1%. India and China demonstrated relatively strong upward trends, with India's share increasing more rapidly than China's following the COVID-19 recession. The St. Louis metro area showed a more uneven growth pattern, with a noticeable dip in 2011-12 and a relatively sharp jump between 2022 and 2023.
The St. Louis MSA displayed distinct differences from national patterns, according to the authors. Mexico wasn't the top origin nation in some years, including 2024, when India claimed the largest share. Mexico's foreign-born population share in St. Louis didn't show a downward trend during the 2005-24 period, with its 2023 share of 0.67% matching the 2010 peak. Germany and Bosnia appeared in the top five origin countries for St. Louis, replacing the Philippines and El Salvador that ranked nationally. In 2024, India held the largest share in the St. Louis metro area, with China in third place after India and Mexico.
The report attributes Mexico's declining national share primarily to trends between the 2007-09 Great Recession and the COVID-19 recession, with an uptick occurring between 2020 and 2024. The analysis used data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, starting with 2005 as the first year such information became available at the metro area level. The researchers noted that Mexico's outsized immigration volume made it an outlier, which is why they presented separate comparisons excluding Mexico to allow clearer assessment of other top origin nations. The St. Louis metro area's significantly lower foreign-born shares compared to the nation persisted throughout the entire analysis period.
Both the nation and the St. Louis metro area are experiencing rising shares of foreign-born residents in their populations, with India and China becoming increasingly important source countries in recent years. The report doesn't offer specific forecasts but highlights that these demographic shifts represent a continuing trend, with India showing particularly rapid growth following the pandemic. The takeaway: America's foreign-born population continues to grow and diversify, but local patterns can differ sharply from national averages.