stories
stories
HomeMoneyLifestyleNewsSportsEntertainmentTravelScienceLocal

What Idaho's immigrant population looked like in 1900

·Stacker

Everett Collection // Shutterstock
Everett Collection // Shutterstock
Add Stacker as Preferred Source

Since the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown in 1607, flows of immigrants have arrived on American shores seeking a new life. From Irish immigrants fleeing famine to Chinese immigrants settling in California during the Gold Rush, more than 86 million people legally immigrated to the United States between 1783 and 2019.

There have been four major waves of immigration to the U.S., beginning with settlers from northern and western Europe seeking land on the frontier from 1820 to 1880. The immigrants counted in the 1900 Census hailed primarily from southern and eastern Europe, drawn by the call of industrialization in America. At the advent of the era of world wars, there was a dearth of immigration, but after 1965, individuals from Asia and Latin America began to move to the U.S. in droves.

Though the national immigrant population today and in 1900 is comparable by percentage, hovering around 14% of the overall U.S. population, the raw population tells a different story. Today, the U.S. is home to 44.7 million immigrants, whereas that number was just shy of 10.5 million at the time of the 1900 Census. Stacker compiled a list of the largest sources of immigrants in Idaho in 1900 by transcribing a previously untranscribed dataset from the U.S. Census Bureau. Countries are ranked by total residents who were born in that country.

Immigration to the U.S. was handled at the state level prior to 1890, with each state government designating its own processes and checkpoints. New York originally used Castle Garden (now Castle Clinton) as its immigration processing hub, but within a few decades realized that a massive influx of immigrants necessitated a larger venue. Ellis Island opened on Jan. 1, 1892, to the first of more than 12 million individuals who entered the U.S. through its doors.

Keep reading to find out more about the historical immigrant community in your home state or explore the data on your own on our site, GitHub, or data.world.

You may also like: Counties most concerned about climate change in Idaho

You may also like: Highest-rated Class of 2026 football recruits from Idaho

1 / 42

#1. England

Idaho
- Number of residents: 3,943
- Percent of foreign born residents: 16.03%
- Percent of total state population: 2.44%
National
- Number of residents: 843,491
- Percent of foreign born residents: 8.06%
- #4 most common country of origin

2 / 42

#2. Germany

Idaho
- Number of residents: 2,974
- Percent of foreign born residents: 12.09%
- Percent of total state population: 1.84%
National
- Number of residents: 2,669,164
- Percent of foreign born residents: 25.52%
- #1 most common country of origin

3 / 42

#3. Canada

Idaho
- Number of residents: 2,923
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.88%
- Percent of total state population: 1.81%
National
- Number of residents: 1,183,225
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.31%
- #3 most common country of origin

4 / 42

#4. Sweden

Idaho
- Number of residents: 2,822
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.47%
- Percent of total state population: 1.74%
National
- Number of residents: 574,625
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.49%
- #5 most common country of origin

6 / 42

#6. Denmark

Idaho
- Number of residents: 1,626
- Percent of foreign born residents: 6.61%
- Percent of total state population: 1.01%
National
- Number of residents: 154,616
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.48%
- #13 most common country of origin

7 / 42

#7. China

Idaho
- Number of residents: 1,411
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.73%
- Percent of total state population: 0.87%
National
- Number of residents: 106,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.02%
- #16 most common country of origin

8 / 42

#8. Japan

Idaho
- Number of residents: 1,305
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.30%
- Percent of total state population: 0.81%
National
- Number of residents: 81,590
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.78%
- #21 most common country of origin

9 / 42

#9. Norway

Idaho
- Number of residents: 1,173
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.77%
- Percent of total state population: 0.73%
National
- Number of residents: 338,426
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.24%
- #9 most common country of origin

11 / 42

#11. Scotland

Idaho
- Number of residents: 796
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.24%
- Percent of total state population: 0.49%
National
- Number of residents: 234,699
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.24%
- #11 most common country of origin

12 / 42

#12. Italy

Idaho
- Number of residents: 779
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.17%
- Percent of total state population: 0.48%
National
- Number of residents: 484,703
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.63%
- #6 most common country of origin

13 / 42

#13. Wales

Idaho
- Number of residents: 732
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.98%
- Percent of total state population: 0.45%
National
- Number of residents: 93,744
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.90%
- #20 most common country of origin

14 / 42

#14. Austria

Idaho
- Number of residents: 294
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.19%
- Percent of total state population: 0.18%
National
- Number of residents: 276,702
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.65%
- #10 most common country of origin

15 / 42

#15. Finland

Idaho
- Number of residents: 292
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.19%
- Percent of total state population: 0.18%
National
- Number of residents: 63,440
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.61%
- #22 most common country of origin

You may also like: Best counties to raise a family in Idaho

You may also like: Best NFL players born in Idaho

16 / 42

#16. France

Idaho
- Number of residents: 194
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.79%
- Percent of total state population: 0.12%
National
- Number of residents: 104,534
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #18 most common country of origin

17 / 42

#17. Russia

Idaho
- Number of residents: 124
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.50%
- Percent of total state population: 0.08%
National
- Number of residents: 424,372
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.06%
- #7 most common country of origin

18 / 42

#18. Hungary

Idaho
- Number of residents: 87
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.35%
- Percent of total state population: 0.05%
National
- Number of residents: 145,815
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.39%
- #14 most common country of origin

19 / 42

#19. Bohemia

Idaho
- Number of residents: 81
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.33%
- Percent of total state population: 0.05%
National
- Number of residents: 156,999
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.50%
- #12 most common country of origin

21 / 42

#21. Poland

Idaho
- Number of residents: 51
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.21%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 383,595
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.67%
- #8 most common country of origin

22 / 42

#22. Holland

Idaho
- Number of residents: 50
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.20%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 105,098
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #17 most common country of origin

23 / 42

#23. Belgium

Idaho
- Number of residents: 42
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.17%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 29,848
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- #24 most common country of origin

24 / 42

#24. Portugal

Idaho
- Number of residents: 35
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 37,144
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.36%
- #23 most common country of origin

26 / 42

#26. Mexico

Idaho
- Number of residents: 28
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 103,445
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.99%
- #19 most common country of origin

27 / 42

#27. Pacific Islands (except Phillipine Islands)

Idaho
- Number of residents: 24
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 2,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- #38 most common country of origin

28 / 42

#28. Australia

Idaho
- Number of residents: 24
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 7,041
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.07%
- #34 most common country of origin

29 / 42

#29. Africa

Idaho
- Number of residents: 20
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 2,577
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #40 most common country of origin

31 / 42

#31. Greece

Idaho
- Number of residents: 9
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 8,655
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #31 most common country of origin

32 / 42

#32. Turkey

Idaho
- Number of residents: 8
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 9,949
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- #30 most common country of origin

33 / 42

#33. Europe (not otherwise specified)

Idaho
- Number of residents: 8
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,272
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #41 most common country of origin

34 / 42

#34. South America

Idaho
- Number of residents: 6
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 4,814
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- #35 most common country of origin

36 / 42

#36. Other Countries

Idaho
- Number of residents: 5
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,587
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #39 most common country of origin

37 / 42

#37. India

Idaho
- Number of residents: 5
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,069
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #42 most common country of origin

38 / 42

#38. West Indies (except Cuba and Puerto Rico)

Idaho
- Number of residents: 4
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 14,468
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #26 most common country of origin

39 / 42

#39. Luxemburg

Idaho
- Number of residents: 4
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 3,049
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- #37 most common country of origin

41 / 42

#41. Central America

Idaho
- Number of residents: 2
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 3,911
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- #36 most common country of origin

42 / 42

#42. Roumania

Idaho
- Number of residents: 1
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.00%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 15,043
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #25 most common country of origin

Trending stories