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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina:
#1. Venezuela: 101
#2. Syria: 81
#3. Congo: 62
#4. Myanmar: 44
#5. Nicaragua: 34
#6. Afghanistan: 28
#7. Eritrea: 25
#7. Guatemala: 25
#9. Somalia: 16
#10. Pakistan: 10
#11. Republic of South Sudan: 8
#12. Yemen: 7
#13. Cuba: 6
#14. Burundi: 4
#14. El Salvador: 4
#14. Ethiopia: 4
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 North Carolina has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.
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Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock
1 / 36Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To North Carolina: 674
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
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2 / 36Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To North Carolina: 413
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
hanohiki // Shutterstock
3 / 36Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To North Carolina: 388
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
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4 / 36Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To North Carolina: 317
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
Chantal de Bruijne // Shutterstock
5 / 36Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To North Carolina: 302
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
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6 / 36Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To North Carolina: 255
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
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7 / 36Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To North Carolina: 141
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
Milosz Maslanka // Shutterstock
8 / 36Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To North Carolina: 139
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
Dave Primov // Shutterstock
9 / 36Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To North Carolina: 124
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
10 / 36Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To North Carolina: 93
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
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11 / 36Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To North Carolina: 83
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
Matyas Rehak // Shutterstock
12 / 36Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To North Carolina: 65
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
W_NAMKET // Shutterstock
13 / 36Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To North Carolina: 56
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
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14 / 36Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To North Carolina: 42
To the U.S. as a whole: 864
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Missouri: 89
#2. Texas: 82
#3. Michigan: 63
#4. Georgia: 60
#5. Colorado: 56
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15 / 36Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To North Carolina: 38
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
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16 / 36Refugees that arrived from Vietnam since October 2023
To North Carolina: 37
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
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17 / 36Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To North Carolina: 35
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
Ruslan Lytvyn // Shutterstock
18 / 36Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To North Carolina: 33
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
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19 / 36Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To North Carolina: 33
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
YuryKara // Shutterstock
20 / 36Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2023
To North Carolina: 22
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
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21 / 36Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To North Carolina: 22
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
Katja Tsvetkova // Shutterstock
22 / 36Refugees that arrived from Republic of Congo since October 2023
To North Carolina: 19
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
Artush // Shutterstock
23 / 36Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2023
To North Carolina: 17
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
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24 / 36Refugees that arrived from Moldova since October 2023
To North Carolina: 14
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
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25 / 36Refugees that arrived from Yemen since October 2023
To North Carolina: 13
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
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26 / 36Refugees that arrived from Nigeria since October 2023
To North Carolina: 13
To the U.S. as a whole: 111
Top states receiving refugees from Nigeria
#1. Illinois: 16
#2. Missouri: 14
#3. Arizona: 13
#3. North Carolina: 13
#5. Texas: 11
Oscar Espinosa // Shutterstock
27 / 36Refugees that arrived from Rwanda since October 2023
To North Carolina: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 220
Top states receiving refugees from Rwanda
#1. Texas: 49
#2. Arizona: 19
#3. Kentucky: 13
#4. South Carolina: 12
#5. Illinois: 11
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28 / 36Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2023
To North Carolina: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 185
Top states receiving refugees from Mali
#1. Pennsylvania: 27
#2. New York: 24
#3. South Carolina: 23
#4. Missouri: 16
#5. Connecticut: 13
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29 / 36Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To North Carolina: 11
To the U.S. as a whole: 588
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Texas: 79
#2. Arizona: 50
#3. Pennsylvania: 44
#4. New York: 43
#5. lowa: 37
Andrew V Marcus // Shutterstock
30 / 36Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2023
To North Carolina: 10
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
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31 / 36Refugees that arrived from Guinea since October 2023
To North Carolina: 7
To the U.S. as a whole: 78
Top states receiving refugees from Guinea
#1. Colorado: 15
#2. Georgia: 9
#3. North Carolina: 7
#4. Michigan: 6
#5. Arizona: 5
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32 / 36Refugees that arrived from Cambodia since October 2023
To North Carolina: 7
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
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33 / 36Refugees that arrived from Cuba since October 2023
To North Carolina: 6
To the U.S. as a whole: 255
Top states receiving refugees from Cuba
#1. Florida: 98
#2. Texas: 33
#3. New York: 12
#3. Maryland: 12
#5. Tennessee: 10
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34 / 36Refugees that arrived from Cameroon since October 2023
To North Carolina: 3
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
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35 / 36Refugees that arrived from Jordan since October 2023
To North Carolina: 2
To the U.S. as a whole: 7
Top states receiving refugees from Jordan
#1. Massachusetts: 3
#2. Illinois: 2
#2. North Carolina: 2
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36 / 36Refugees that arrived from Jamaica since October 2023
To North Carolina: 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.
