| Photo by Victor He on Unsplash
NEW YORK — New York City’s newest demographic portrait of its immigrant population—the 2026 edition of The Newest New Yorkers—offers the most detailed look in more than a decade at who is arriving, where they are settling, and how they are reshaping the city’s cultural and economic landscape. Released on June 12, 2026, the report is the first update since 2013, ending a 13‑year gap in comprehensive citywide immigration analysis.
Prepared by the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the 235‑page report draws primarily from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey through 2023. It took several years of data collection, analysis, and interagency collaboration to complete, according to city officials.
A Long‑Awaited Update to a Foundational Report
The Newest New Yorkers series has long served as the city’s definitive demographic baseline for understanding immigration trends. First published in the 1990s, the report was issued every few years until the last edition in 2013. This year’s update marks the first major revision in more than a decade, reflecting significant demographic shifts that have unfolded since then.
The new edition also debuts an interactive web version, a first for the series, allowing residents, researchers, and policymakers to explore neighborhood‑level data with greater ease.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Asian American mayor, emphasized the report’s importance in understanding how immigration continues to shape New York. “This report shines a light on how our city is changing and growing and reminds us that our greatest strength has always been the people who come here,” he said in a statement accompanying the release.
A City of 3.1 Million Immigrants—But With New Patterns
The report finds that New York City’s immigrant population remains steady at 3.1 million, representing more than one‑third of all residents and 43 percent of the city’s workforce. These figures are consistent with the 2013 report, which also documented a foreign‑born population of roughly 3 million. But the new edition reveals notable shifts in the composition and distribution of immigrant communities.
For the first time in more than 30 years, Chinese immigrants have become the city’s largest foreign‑born group, surpassing Dominicans. The Chinese population grew to 397,000, a 5 percent increase from 2013, while the Dominican population declined 6 percent to 390,000. In the 2013 report, Dominicans held the top spot—a position they had maintained since 1990.
City Planning Director Sideya Sherman said the shift reflects both long‑term demographic change and the resilience of immigrant communities. “Immigrant New Yorkers are writing the future of this city every day,” she said. “From the neighborhoods they have built to the small businesses that have opened… immigrants make New York the city that it is.”
New Neighborhood Hubs and Expanding Diversity
The report highlights the emergence of new immigrant hubs across the five boroughs. While traditional enclaves such as Flushing, Sunset Park, and Washington Heights remain strong, newer concentrations of foreign‑born residents have appeared in parts of the Bronx, eastern Queens, and southern Brooklyn.
Nearly half of all New Yorkers now speak a language other than English at home, and two‑thirds are first‑ or second‑generation Americans, underscoring the city’s continued linguistic and cultural diversity. These figures represent modest increases from the 2013 report, which documented that about 49 percent of residents spoke a non‑English language at home.
Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg said the findings reaffirm the city’s identity. “Immigrants are at the heart of New York’s evolution and growth as a city,” she said. “Our city and our neighbors benefit from cultural diversity, small businesses, new languages and cuisines, and more.”
Economic Contributions and Workforce Trends
The report also details the economic role of immigrants, who make up 43 percent of the city’s workforce. This aligns with broader labor‑force analyses showing that foreign‑born workers remain essential to the city’s recovery and growth. In 2023, foreign‑born workers contributed $383 billion to the city’s real gross product, according to separate labor data.
Immigrant workers are heavily represented in health care, food service, transportation, and small business ownership. Nearly 49 percent of all self‑employed New Yorkers are foreign‑born—more than double the national share.
The report notes that while immigrant labor‑force participation remains high, economic pressures—including rising housing costs and uneven post‑pandemic recovery—continue to affect many communities. These challenges echo findings from the 2013 edition, which documented similar disparities in income and employment among immigrant groups.
A More Complex Enforcement and Legal Landscape
The report arrives amid shifting federal immigration policies and heightened enforcement. Chinese nationals, for example, accounted for 37 percent of ICE arrests of Asian individuals in New York State since January 2025, according to a separate Stop AAPI Hate analysis cited in news coverage of the report.
MOIA Commissioner Faiza Ali said the city remains committed to supporting immigrant residents regardless of federal policy changes. “Everywhere you look… is a reminder that there is no New York City without immigrant New York City,” she said. “We will never waver in our commitment to embracing new neighbors and long‑time residents alike.”
Comparing 2026 With 2013: What’s New
The 2026 edition introduces several new features and findings not present in the 2013 report:
- Interactive digital platform for exploring neighborhood‑level data.
- Updated country‑of‑origin rankings, including the rise of Chinese immigrants to the top position.
- New analysis of emerging immigrant hubs across the boroughs.
- Expanded workforce and economic data, including contributions to GDP and self‑employment trends.
The 2013 report, by contrast, focused heavily on long‑term settlement patterns and the growth of established communities, without the granular digital tools or updated labor‑force metrics now available.
A City Still Defined by Its Newest Arrivals
As New York continues to navigate economic recovery, housing pressures, and evolving migration patterns, the Newest New Yorkers report provides a crucial roadmap for policymakers and community leaders.
Mayor Mamdani said the findings reaffirm the city’s core identity. “As we work to make New York more affordable and more welcoming, we remain committed to ensuring that every New Yorker—no matter where they were born—can build a future here.”
With 3.1 million immigrants calling the city home, and with new communities emerging every year, the report makes one thing clear: New York’s story remains, at its heart, an immigrant story.
