Where refugees in Missouri are arriving from
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 March 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Congo, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.
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. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans. In Myanmar, state-sponsored violence against the Rohingya people has displaced nearly 2 million people internally. Another million are in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Missouri in March 2024.
March refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in March
To Missouri:
#1. Congo: 106
#2. Syria: 27
#3. Central African Republic: 26
#4. Afghanistan: 25
#5. Congo: 15
#6. Myanmar: 14
#7. Somalia: 13
#8. Burundi: 9
#9. Guatemala: 5
#10. Pakistan: 4
#10. Venezuela: 4
#12. Eritrea: 3
#12. Ethiopia: 3
#12. Sudan: 3
#15. Cameroon: 1
#15. Uganda: 1
To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Congo: 2,089
#2. Afghanistan: 1,031
#3. Myanmar: 765
#4. Syria: 594
#5. Venezuela: 563
States that accepted the most refugees in March:
#1. Texas: 916
#2. California: 495
#3. New York: 473
#4. Pennsylvania: 346
#5. Florida: 315
Read on to see the countries that Missouri has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
#1. Congo
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Missouri: 626
To the U.S. as a whole: 12,018
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,049
#2. Kentucky: 1,013
#3. Arizona: 854
#4. New York: 762
#5. Ohio: 761
#2. Syria
Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Missouri: 89
To the U.S. as a whole: 7,412
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. New York: 702
#2. Michigan: 699
#3. Pennsylvania: 516
#4. Texas: 434
#5. California: 409
#3. Afghanistan
Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Missouri: 85
To the U.S. as a whole: 6,956
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 1,449
#2. Virginia: 710
#3. Texas: 700
#4. Washington: 482
#5. Maryland: 303
#4. Central African Republic
Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Missouri: 64
To the U.S. as a whole: 563
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Missouri: 64
#2. Texas: 55
#3. Michigan: 54
#4. Georgia: 40
#5. Massachusetts: 34
#5. Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Missouri: 60
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,067
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. New York: 83
#2. Texas: 80
#3. Pennsylvania: 76
#4. Nebraska: 65
#5. Missouri: 60
#6. Somalia
Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Missouri: 58
To the U.S. as a whole: 1,600
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 514
#2. Ohio: 126
#3. Arizona: 78
#3. New York: 78
#5. Georgia: 63
#7. Myanmar
Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Missouri: 43
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,664
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
#1. Texas: 416
#2. Illinois: 394
#3. New York: 349
#4. Georgia: 245
#5. Wisconsin: 232
#8. Congo
Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Missouri: 29
To the U.S. as a whole: 12,018
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,049
#2. Kentucky: 1,013
#3. Arizona: 854
#4. New York: 762
#5. Ohio: 761
#8. Guatemala
Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Missouri: 29
To the U.S. as a whole: 2,220
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 301
#2. Texas: 210
#3. North Carolina: 163
#4. Florida: 141
#5. New York: 95
#10. Iraq
Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Missouri: 24
To the U.S. as a whole: 844
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. California: 154
#2. Michigan: 105
#3. Texas: 50
#4. Nebraska: 47
#5. Washington: 42
#11. Pakistan
Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To Missouri: 19
To the U.S. as a whole: 557
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 89
#2. Virginia: 57
#3. Texas: 53
#4. North Carolina: 46
#5. Maryland: 36
#12. Eritrea
Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Missouri: 18
To the U.S. as a whole: 963
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Texas: 107
#2. Washington: 95
#3. Ohio: 67
#4. Maryland: 65
#5. North Carolina: 53
#13. Venezuela
Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Missouri: 17
To the U.S. as a whole: 3,067
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Florida: 612
#2. Texas: 429
#3. Georgia: 170
#4. Illinois: 163
#5. Tennessee: 120
#14. Nigeria
Refugees that arrived from Nigeria since October 2023
To Missouri: 14
To the U.S. as a whole: 86
Top states receiving refugees from Nigeria
#1. Missouri: 14
#2. Arizona: 13
#2. North Carolina: 13
#4. Illinois: 9
#5. Massachusetts: 8
#15. Mali
Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2023
To Missouri: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 164
Top states receiving refugees from Mali
#1. Pennsylvania: 25
#2. New York: 24
#3. South Carolina: 23
#4. Connecticut: 13
#4. Michigan: 13
#15. Colombia
Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Missouri: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 722
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. Florida: 98
#2. North Carolina: 67
#3. Texas: 58
#4. New York: 52
#5. Washington: 46
#15. Burundi
Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Missouri: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 314
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Texas: 48
#2. New York: 35
#3. Arizona: 32
#4. Pennsylvania: 28
#5. Michigan: 17
#18. Nicaragua
Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Missouri: 9
To the U.S. as a whole: 939
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 161
#2. California: 78
#3. Texas: 65
#4. Minnesota: 46
#5. North Carolina: 40
#19. Ethiopia
Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To Missouri: 6
To the U.S. as a whole: 253
Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia
#1. Minnesota: 76
#2. Ohio: 25
#3. Washington: 24
#4. Georgia: 23
#5. lowa: 12
#19. Uganda
Refugees that arrived from Uganda since October 2023
To Missouri: 6
To the U.S. as a whole: 40
Top states receiving refugees from Uganda
#1. Massachusetts: 6
#1. Missouri: 6
#3. Ohio: 5
#4. Michigan: 4
#4. Washington: 4
#21. Republic of South Sudan
Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Missouri: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 713
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. Texas: 66
#2. Nebraska: 65
#3. Colorado: 57
#4. Connecticut: 53
#5. New York: 47
#21. Honduras
Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Missouri: 5
To the U.S. as a whole: 556
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Texas: 95
#2. Florida: 72
#3. Georgia: 40
#4. California: 37
#5. New York: 32
#23. Haiti
Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To Missouri: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 116
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. Pennsylvania: 24
#2. Florida: 18
#3. Georgia: 14
#4. Colorado: 9
#5. California: 8
#23. Cameroon
Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023
To Missouri: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 97
Top states receiving refugees from Cameroon
#1. Texas: 11
#2. Pennsylvania: 10
#3. Nevada: 8
#4. California: 7
#5. South Carolina: 6
#23. Ukraine
Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To Missouri: 4
To the U.S. as a whole: 810
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 291
#2. California: 122
#3. New York: 42
#4. Ohio: 40
#5. Florida: 37
#26. Burkina Faso
Refugees that arrived from Burkina Faso since October 2023
To Missouri: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 4
Top states receiving refugees from Burkina Faso
#1. Missouri: 3
#2. New York: 1
#26. Ivory Coast
Refugees that arrived from Ivory Coast since October 2023
To Missouri: 3
To the U.S. as a whole: 62
Top states receiving refugees from Ivory Coast
#1. Pennsylvania: 10
#2. Minnesota: 8
#3. Massachusetts: 7
#4. Arkansas: 5
#5. Florida: 4
#28. Moldova
Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To Missouri: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 292
Top states receiving refugees from Moldova
#1. California: 94
#2. Washington: 87
#3. Florida: 18
#4. Minnesota: 17
#4. Oregon: 17
#29. Guinea-Bissau
Refugees that arrived from Guinea-Bissau since October 2023
To Missouri: 1
To the U.S. as a whole: 1
Top states receiving refugees from Guinea-Bissau
#1. Missouri: 1
This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 47 states.
