Immigration Impact On New Jersey

State Population 8,414,350 Population Increase 1990-2000 684,162 Foreign-Born Population 1,476,327
Percent Foreign-Born 17.5% Illegal Resident Population 221,0001 2025 Population Projection 9,558,000 All numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau unless otherwise noted.

Additional Census Bureau, INS, and other immigration-related data are available for New Jersey.
 
Population estimates show that New Jersey is adding people faster than any other state in the Northeast, primarily because of the increase in immigrants.2 This immigration-driven population growth is taking a serious toll on New Jersey, bringing traffic, overcrowded schools, pollution, and lack of affordable housing to the state, decreasing quality of life and straining water and other vital natural resources.

Profile in Numbers, Population Growth, New Jersey’s population increased by nine percent, or almost 700,000, between 1990 and 2000, bringing its population to 8.4 million people.

Foreign Born Population, New Jersey’s foreign-born population increased 53 percent, during the 1990s. New Jersey gained half a million immigrants during the decade, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to almost 1.5 million. This was the sixth largest numeric increase in the country.

The increase in the foreign-born population during the 1990s accounted for 75 percent of the state’s overall population increase during the decade. Foreign-born residents now comprise 18 percent of the total state population, higher than the national average of 11 percent.

About 2.4 million people in New Jersey are immigrants or the children of immigrants, 29 percent of the state’s population; that’s the sixth highest percentage in the country.3 This is 43 percent higher than the national rate of 20 percent