During the past five decades, the U.S. has resettled over 3 million refugees, making it one of the leading countries for finding new homes for people fleeing violence, persecution, and war.
In 2021, then-President Donald Trump lowered the annual cap of refugees that could be admitted into the country to 15,000. Even as the Biden administration has raised the ceiling to 125,000, the annual number of refugees arriving in the U.S. didn't immediately bounce back to pre-Trump administration levels. The numbers are increasing though, with over 25,000 refugees arriving in the U.S. in the 2022 fiscal year, twice the 2021 total.
Refugee arrivals during the 2023 fiscal year dramatically outpaced the prior two years, reaching over 60,000 from October 2022 to September 2023.
In September 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Venezeula, Afghanistan, and Congo. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.
In Venezuela, over 7.5 million people have left the country due to extreme inflation, violence, food and medicine scarcity, and other factors. Most have resettled in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans. For the last three decades, Congo, also called the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been struggling with a series of civil wars and internal battles that have left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries.
Stacker referenced data from the Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in California in September 2024. Countries with only one refugee since October 2023 are not included.
September refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in September
To California:
#1. Afghanistan: 560
#2. Syria: 211
#3. Guatemala: 163
#4. Venezuela: 159
#5. Iraq: 81
#6. Armenia: 63
#7. Myanmar: 40
#8. El Salvador: 38
#9. Congo: 37
#10. Nicaragua: 34
#11. Belarus: 32
#12. Ukraine: 22
#13. Eritrea: 21
#14. Ethiopia: 14
#15. Somalia: 13
#16. Sudan: 10
#17. Iran: 9
#17. Uzbekistan: 9
#19. Republic of South Sudan: 8
#20. Vietnam: 7
#21. Honduras: 6
#22. Haiti: 4
#23. Russia: 3
#24. Colombia: 2
#24. Moldova: 2
#26. Yemen: 1
To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Venezuela: 3,653
#2. Congo: 2,296
#3. Afghanistan: 2,068
#4. Syria: 1,585
#5. Myanmar: 1,455
States that accepted the most refugees in September:
#1. Texas: 1,702
#2. California: 1,550
#3. New York: 918
#4. Florida: 768
#5. Illinois: 750
Read on to see the countries that California has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
You may also like: Most common jobs 150 years ago in California
Canva
1 / 36Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To California: 3,171
To the U.S. as a whole: 14,707
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 3,171
#2. Texas: 1,574
#3. Virginia: 1,257
#4. Washington: 889
#5. New York: 658
Lauren Squire // Shutterstock
2 / 36Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To California: 794
To the U.S. as a whole: 5,017
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 794
#2. Texas: 551
#3. Florida: 257
#4. North Carolina: 255
#5. New York: 219
hanohiki // Shutterstock
3 / 36Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To California: 763
To the U.S. as a whole: 11,274
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. Michigan: 1,186
#2. New York: 1,112
#3. Pennsylvania: 954
#4. California: 763
#5. Texas: 676
Focus and Blur // Shutterstock
4 / 36Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To California: 364
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,278
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. California: 364
#2. Michigan: 260
#3. Texas: 189
#4. Nebraska: 136
#5. Illinois: 122
Canva
5 / 36Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To California: 332
To the U.S. as a whole: 12,878
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Texas: 2,039
#2. Florida: 1,883
#3. Illinois: 664
#4. New York: 514
#5. Georgia: 512
You may also like: Highest-rated stouts in California
Sebastian Castelier // Shutterstock
6 / 36Refugees that arrived from Armenia since October 2023
To California: 280
To the U.S. as a whole: 319
Top states receiving refugees from Armenia
#1. California: 280
#2. Washington: 21
#3. South Carolina: 9
#4. Oregon: 5
#5. Ohio: 4
Andrew V Marcus // Shutterstock
7 / 36Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To California: 277
To the U.S. as a whole: 470
Top states receiving refugees from Iran
#1. California: 277
#2. Texas: 53
#3. Michigan: 17
#4. Washington: 14
#4. Georgia: 14
Milosz Maslanka // Shutterstock
8 / 36Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To California: 259
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,299
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 382
#2. Texas: 313
#3. California: 259
#4. North Carolina: 139
#5. Minnesota: 135
Ruslan Lytvyn // Shutterstock
9 / 36Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To California: 248
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,447
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 524
#2. California: 248
#3. New York: 90
#4. Florida: 74
#5. South Carolina: 61
Canva
10 / 36Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To California: 187
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,331
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. California: 187
#2. Texas: 174
#3. Maryland: 119
#4. Virginia: 99
#5. North Carolina: 83
You may also like: Coldest Septembers in California since 1895
Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock
11 / 36Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To California: 174
To the U.S. as a whole: 19,922
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,791
#2. Kentucky: 1,735
#3. Ohio: 1,343
#4. New York: 1,295
#5. Arizona: 1,274
JackKPhoto // Shutterstock
12 / 36Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To California: 107
To the U.S. as a whole: 366
Top states receiving refugees from Moldova
#1. Washington: 114
#2. California: 107
#3. Florida: 24
#3. Oregon: 24
#5. Minnesota: 17
karp5 // Shutterstock
13 / 36Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To California: 89
To the U.S. as a whole: 391
Top states receiving refugees from Belarus
#1. Washington: 91
#2. California: 89
#3. Massachusetts: 34
#4. New York: 27
#5. Pennsylvania: 24
YuryKara // Shutterstock
14 / 36Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2023
To California: 78
To the U.S. as a whole: 347
Top states receiving refugees from Russia
#1. Washington: 83
#2. California: 78
#3. Oregon: 43
#4. Minnesota: 22
#4. North Carolina: 22
Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock
15 / 36Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To California: 77
To the U.S. as a whole: 7,347
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
#1. Texas: 882
#2. Illinois: 761
#3. New York: 736
#4. Wisconsin: 570
#5. Georgia: 462
You may also like: Easy as pie: See the most uniquely popular pie in California
Dave Primov // Shutterstock
16 / 36Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To California: 60
To the U.S. as a whole: 4,801
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 1,267
#2. New York: 366
#3. Ohio: 326
#4. Arizona: 280
#5. Missouri: 257
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
17 / 36Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To California: 58
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,180
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. New York: 194
#2. Texas: 170
#3. Ohio: 146
#4. Pennsylvania: 132
#5. Missouri: 124
Dave Primov // Shutterstock
18 / 36Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To California: 53
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,410
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Texas: 286
#2. Washington: 253
#3. lowa: 162
#4. North Carolina: 141
#5. Maryland: 129
amnat30 // Shutterstock
19 / 36Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To California: 48
To the U.S. as a whole: 901
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Texas: 144
#2. Florida: 108
#3. New York: 62
#4. California: 48
#5. Georgia: 44
W_NAMKET // Shutterstock
20 / 36Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To California: 27
To the U.S. as a whole: 856
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 120
#2. Texas: 88
#3. Virginia: 62
#4. Illinois: 57
#5. North Carolina: 56
You may also like: Counties with the oldest homes in California
Omri Eliyahu // Shutterstock
21 / 36Refugees that arrived from Kazakhstan since October 2023
To California: 19
To the U.S. as a whole: 111
Top states receiving refugees from Kazakhstan
#1. Washington: 43
#2. California: 19
#2. Pennsylvania: 19
#4. Oregon: 10
#5. Massachusetts: 8
Artush // Shutterstock
22 / 36Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To California: 18
To the U.S. as a whole: 501
Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia
#1. Minnesota: 152
#2. Washington: 46
#3. Texas: 38
#4. Ohio: 33
#5. Georgia: 29
Canva
23 / 36Refugees that arrived from Uzbekistan since October 2023
To California: 17
To the U.S. as a whole: 53
Top states receiving refugees from Uzbekistan
#1. California: 17
#2. New York: 13
#3. Washington: 12
#4. Ohio: 6
#5. Oregon: 5
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
24 / 36Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To California: 17
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,382
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. Florida: 137
#2. Texas: 117
#3. New York: 114
#4. Washington: 95
#5. North Carolina: 93
Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock
25 / 36Refugees that arrived from Republic of Congo since October 2023
To California: 14
To the U.S. as a whole: 353
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of Congo
#1. Missouri: 32
#2. Pennsylvania: 28
#3. Wisconsin: 26
#4. New York: 25
#4. Illinois: 25
You may also like: Countries to which California exports the most goods
Canva
26 / 36Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To California: 13
To the U.S. as a whole: 256
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. Pennsylvania: 41
#2. Florida: 31
#3. Nevada: 16
#3. Texas: 16
#5. Georgia: 15
punghi // Shutterstock
27 / 36Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To California: 9
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,320
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. Nebraska: 151
#2. Texas: 122
#3. New York: 94
#4. lowa: 88
#5. Colorado: 68
Canva
28 / 36Refugees that arrived from Vietnam since October 2023
To California: 8
To the U.S. as a whole: 118
Top states receiving refugees from Vietnam
#1. Minnesota: 52
#2. North Carolina: 37
#3. California: 8
#4. Oklahoma: 7
#5. Arkansas: 5
Canva
29 / 36Refugees that arrived from Algeria since October 2023
To California: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 11
Top states receiving refugees from Algeria
#1. California: 7
#2. Massachusetts: 2
#2. New York: 2
Canva
30 / 36Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023
To California: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 120
Top states receiving refugees from Cameroon
#1. Pennsylvania: 13
#1. Texas: 13
#3. Minnesota: 9
#4. Nevada: 8
#5. Maryland: 7
You may also like: The truth about minimum coverage requirements in California
aleksander hunta // Shutterstock
31 / 36Refugees that arrived from Cambodia since October 2023
To California: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 58
Top states receiving refugees from Cambodia
#1. Texas: 17
#2. Rhode Island: 10
#3. North Carolina: 7
#4. California: 5
#4. Oregon: 5
Canva
32 / 36Refugees that arrived from Yemen since October 2023
To California: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 198
Top states receiving refugees from Yemen
#1. Michigan: 46
#2. New York: 26
#3. Georgia: 17
#4. Texas: 15
#5. North Carolina: 13
Beata Tabak // Shutterstock
33 / 36Refugees that arrived from Ivory Coast since October 2023
To California: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 66
Top states receiving refugees from Ivory Coast
#1. Pennsylvania: 10
#2. Minnesota: 8
#3. Massachusetts: 7
#4. Arkansas: 6
#5. Florida: 4
Canva
34 / 36Refugees that arrived from Georgia since October 2023
To California: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 34
Top states receiving refugees from Georgia
#1. Washington: 23
#2. Pennsylvania: 4
#3. California: 3
#4. Indiana: 2
#4. New York: 2
Salvador Aznar // Shutterstock
35 / 36Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2023
To California: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 84
Top states receiving refugees from Senegal
#1. Massachusetts: 16
#2. South Carolina: 15
#3. Florida: 9
#3. Georgia: 9
#5. Texas: 8
You may also like: Most commonly hunted migratory birds in California
Canva
36 / 36Refugees that arrived from Jamaica since October 2023
To California: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 12
Top states receiving refugees from Jamaica
#1. California: 2
#1. Colorado: 2
#1. Connecticut: 2
#1. Michigan: 2
#1. North Carolina: 2
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 48 states.
