Although Mississippi has not historically had a large immigrant population, the number of foreign-born residents living in the state today is far greater than it was several decades ago. In 1990, Mississippi was home to roughly 20,000 immigrants, a group that made up less than 1 percent of the population. Today, the picture looks strikingly different. The number of immigrants living in Mississippi has more than tripled since 1990, and foreign-born residents now account for 2.1 percent of the state’s population overall. Much of this change, however, occurred before 2010. From 2010 to 2014, the number of immigrants living in Mississippi remained essentially flat, indicating the state may want to adopt policies aimed at attracting immigrants in the coming years.

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