About half of Connecticut's population was born here. Here's where the rest of us are from.

[Excerpt of feature article by Taylor Johnston, Alejandra Arevalo and Nami Sumida, 2/16/24]

Nearly half of Connecticut's adult population was born within the state's borders, according to recently released Census data collected in 2022. That part of the picture has remained relatively steady for decades.

But over the past two decades, the state has seen a slow but steady increase in the number of residents born abroad. In 2022, the share of Connecticut adults who were born in the state was 47%, down about two percentage points from 2010, when the share was 49%.

Residents born internationally now make up about 20% of the state population — up from 17% in 2010.

Overall, Connecticut’s mix of residents born in the state and in other regions of the country and outside of the U.S. has remained relatively stable in recent decades.

Mark Abraham, executive director of DataHaven said these trends are not surprising.

“Much of the population growth from 1950 to 1970 was driven by the ‘baby boom’ (including families in Connecticut having more children, but also young people who were born in places like New York City moving out to Connecticut in large numbers),” he said in an email. “‘The ‘Great Migration’ from the South also happened during that time period.” Following the decline of the baby boom, a significant portion of population increase since 1970 can be attributed to rising levels of immigration from overseas, alongside ongoing migration from New York state to Connecticut.

“This migration to Connecticut offsets the fact that many people born in Connecticut move to other states for reasons such as finding jobs, marriage, retirements, etc.,” he said. “Given that the percent of people who were born in Connecticut is relatively stable throughout that time suggests that these trends generally balance each other out.”

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According to a 2015 immigration report from DataHaven, reform of immigration policy in 1965 marked a pivotal shift, reversing two long-standing trends: the declining number of foreign-born individuals since the 1930s and the predominant influx of immigrants from Anglo-European backgrounds.

Areas like New Haven and surrounding suburbs saw an increase in immigrants, mirroring a broader nationwide trend. 

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