A portrait of immigrants in Chicago: Immigrant population reaches its highest point in nearly two decades

Chicago’s immigrant population is at its highest point in nearly two decades.

That’s according to new census data released as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its stepped-up deportation campaign in the Chicago area.

An estimated 597,415 immigrants — a diverse group of Chicagoans born outside the United States — comprise about 22% of the city’s population, according to 2024 data just released by the. Census Bureau.

That count of the immigrant population count was the highest in Chicago since 2006. It bucks the trend of a slow but relatively steady decline over the past two decades.

Between 2023 and 2024, the city’s immigrant population increased by about 7% while the city’s overall population increased by just 2%, and the native-born population grew by less than 1%.

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