Coming Back to America: Characteristics and Destinations of Native-Born Americans Moving to the U.S.

Megan J. Benetsky, U.S. Census Bureau
Alison Fields, U.S. Census Bureau

According to the 2006-2010 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, over two million people abroad moved to the U.S. Of those two million, about 28% were people born in the continental U.S., lived abroad one year ago, and moved back to the U.S. Despite being a large component of abroad movers, there is not a great deal of research on U.S.-born citizens. Using the 2006-2010 ACS 5-Year Estimates, this project analyzes the characteristics of these movers, including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, educational attainment marital status, occupation, income, and presence of children. The geography of this group is also looks at what state they were born in, what countries they are coming from, and where they are currently living in the U.S. Military service members are examined separately as this group’s characteristics and points of origin are particularly unique.