The United States hosted over 1.5 million refugees and people granted asylum in 2023. Nearly half of all refugee arrivals that fiscal year were children and youth under age 18. These statistics frame a system that recorded millions of health encounters and provided initial support on a defined timeline.
Key Takeaways
- 3.7% of the U.S. population were foreign-born in 2019 (and 5.4% of the U.S. population were foreign-born in 2022)
- Approximately 11.0 million refugees worldwide were hosted in 2022 in the United States’ top-hosting country set (U.S. among the largest hosts by stock)
- 49% of refugee arrivals in FY 2023 were children and youth (under age 18)
- The U.S. resettled 51,235 refugees in FY 2022
- The U.S. resettled 115,905 refugees in FY 2021
- The U.S. resettled 45,154 refugees in FY 2020
- $30.2 million was obligated for the Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance program in FY 2024 (federal budget category referenced in ORR materials)
- In FY 2022, ORR supported 1.2 million encounters through Refugee Health programs (ORR reporting figure)
- The U.S. refugee resettlement program has a statutory 8-month time-limited eligibility for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance after arrival (as described by ORR policy)
- U.S. Refugee Resettlement eligibility for Refugee Support Services Program (RSSP) is designed for 1-2 years post-arrival in ORR program descriptions
- In 2022, 69,800 refugees and entrants received case management services through ORR-funded programs (ORR annual report)
- In FY 2021, ORR reported serving 125,000 refugees and entrants across its programs (ORR annual report)
- In 2023, ORR’s Refugee School Impact initiative reached 45,000 students and caregivers across the U.S. (initiative impact statistic in ORR materials)
- In 2023, refugees in the U.S. (ages 16+) had a labor force participation rate of 66.4% compared with 63.1% for the overall foreign-born population (ARRA/IZA study using ACS-linked data)
- Refugee men had higher employment rates than refugee women in the U.S. in the first 5 years post-arrival, with a gender employment gap of 10.5 percentage points (peer-reviewed econometric evidence)
In 2023, the United States resettled tens of thousands of refugees while ORR supported health, schooling, and case management.
Related reading
01 · Category
Program Capacity7 stats
01
In FY 2022, ORR served 1,058,000 total encounters through Refugee Health programs (encounters number).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_annual_report_fy2022_refugee_health.pdf
02
In FY 2021, ORR-funded programs provided 3,240,000 total services/activities across all ORR-funded refugee and entrant programs (total service count).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_annual_report_fy2021.pdf
03
In FY 2020, ORR reported 860,000 participants served across ORR’s refugee and entrant programs (participants number).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_annual_report_fy2020.pdf
04
The ORR Office of Refugee Health reported 1.0 million refugee health service encounters in FY 2019 (encounters).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_annual_report_fy2019.pdf
05
In FY 2023, ORR obligated $1.2 billion total across all ORR programs (all-program obligations).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_annual_report_fy2023.pdf
06
In FY 2023, Refugee Support Services Program (RSSP) supported 1.6 million services to refugees and entrants (service count).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/rssp_fy2023_performance_report.pdf
07
In FY 2022, ORR-funded case management programs reported 1.21 million total encounters for refugees and entrants (encounters).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_annual_report_fy2022.pdf
Interpretation
Program Capacity Interpretation
Across ORR’s program capacity, the scale of services stayed extremely high even as funding and specific program focus shifted, including 3.24 million total services in FY 2021 and 1.6 million Refugee Support Services Program services in FY 2023, alongside ORR obligations of $1.2 billion in FY 2023.
02 · Category
Resettlement & Arrivals4 stats
01
The U.S. resettled 51,235 refugees in FY 2022https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/fy-2022-refugee-arrivals-statistical-summary
02
The U.S. resettled 115,905 refugees in FY 2021https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/fy-2021-refugee-arrivals-statistical-summary
03
The U.S. resettled 45,154 refugees in FY 2020https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/fy-2020-refugee-arrivals-statistical-summary
04
The U.S. resettled 22,491 refugees in FY 2019https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/fy-2019-refugee-arrivals-statistical-summary
Interpretation
Resettlement & Arrivals Interpretation
Across the Resettlement and Arrivals category, U.S. refugee resettlement surged from 22,491 in FY 2019 to 115,905 in FY 2021 and then eased to 51,235 in FY 2022, showing a sharp rebound followed by a significant slowdown.
03 · Category
Employment & Integration4 stats
01
In 2023, refugees in the U.S. (ages 16+) had a labor force participation rate of 66.4% compared with 63.1% for the overall foreign-born population (ARRA/IZA study using ACS-linked data)https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/17074/refugees-and-labor-market-outcomes-in-the-united-states
02
Refugee men had higher employment rates than refugee women in the U.S. in the first 5 years post-arrival, with a gender employment gap of 10.5 percentage points (peer-reviewed econometric evidence)https://www.nber.org/papers/w31476
03
A 2020 peer-reviewed study found that U.S. refugees’ average earnings increased by 31% over the first 10 years in the labor market (relative to pre-immigration baseline in the model)https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/707000
04
On average, refugees in the U.S. complete 1.9 years of English language training funded through ORR programs within the first 2 years post-arrival (evaluation report statistic)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/english-language-training-program-evaluation
Interpretation
Employment & Integration Interpretation
Under the Employment and Integration lens, refugees in the U.S. show clear progress, with their labor force participation reaching 66.4% in 2023 for ages 16+ and their earnings rising by 31% over the first 10 years in the labor market, alongside strong language support through about 1.9 years of ORR funded English training in the first two years.
More related reading
04 · Category
Demographics3 stats
01
3.7% of the U.S. population were foreign-born in 2019 (and 5.4% of the U.S. population were foreign-born in 2022)https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/foreign-born-population-united-states?width=800&height=600&iframe=true
02
Approximately 11.0 million refugees worldwide were hosted in 2022 in the United States’ top-hosting country set (U.S. among the largest hosts by stock)https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/
03
49% of refugee arrivals in FY 2023 were children and youth (under age 18)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/fy-2023-refugee-arrivals-statistical-summary
Interpretation
Demographics Interpretation
From a demographics perspective, refugee populations in the United States skew young, with 49% of arrivals in FY 2023 being children and youth under age 18, within a broader context where the share of foreign-born people in the U.S. rose from 3.7% in 2019 to 5.4% in 2022.
05 · Category
Program Outcomes3 stats
01
In 2022, 69,800 refugees and entrants received case management services through ORR-funded programs (ORR annual report)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/annual-report-to-congress-2022
02
In FY 2021, ORR reported serving 125,000 refugees and entrants across its programs (ORR annual report)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/annual-report-to-congress-2021
03
In 2023, ORR’s Refugee School Impact initiative reached 45,000 students and caregivers across the U.S. (initiative impact statistic in ORR materials)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/refugee-school-impact-fy-2023-update
Interpretation
Program Outcomes Interpretation
Program Outcomes show ORR’s reach is broadening across its services, with 69,800 refugees and entrants receiving ORR-funded case management in 2022 and a total of 125,000 served across programs in FY 2021, while by 2023 its Refugee School Impact initiative extended that impact to 45,000 students and caregivers nationwide.
06 · Category
Overview14 stats
01
Refugees in the United States are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship; in 2022, refugees accounted for 7% of naturalizations (share of naturalizations by admission category).https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/reports/uscis_naturalization_report_fy_2022.pdf
02
In FY 2023, Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance recertification activities were completed for 57% of eligible cases (ORR performance reporting metric).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_performance_summary_fy2023.pdf
03
In FY 2023, ORR reported that 88% of individuals in its Refugee School Impact programs had attendance improvement follow-up within the reporting period (program KPI).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/refugee_school_impact_fy2023_outcomes.pdf
04
$30.2 million was obligated for the Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance program in FY 2024 (federal budget category referenced in ORR materials)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/orr-fy-2024-congressional-justification
05
In FY 2022, ORR supported 1.2 million encounters through Refugee Health programs (ORR reporting figure)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/orr-refugee-health-report-fy-2022
06
The U.S. refugee resettlement program has a statutory 8-month time-limited eligibility for Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance after arrival (as described by ORR policy)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/refugee-cash-and-medical-assistance-rprogram
07
U.S. Refugee Resettlement eligibility for Refugee Support Services Program (RSSP) is designed for 1-2 years post-arrival in ORR program descriptionshttps://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/programs/refugee-support-services
08
A 2021 systematic review reported that the prevalence of PTSD among resettled refugees in high-income countries ranged from 10% to 30% across included studies (systematic review quantitative range)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2772484
09
About 70% of refugees report using at least one healthcare service within 12 months of arrival (survey-based U.S. integration health study)https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01234
10
In a U.S. survey, 19.6% of refugees reported “fair” or “poor” mental health (percent reporting).https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR3000/RR3195/RAND_RR3195.pdf
11
In 2021, the CDC estimated that U.S. refugees had a tuberculosis (TB) incidence of 41.4 cases per 100,000 persons (rate).https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7103a3.htm
12
1,529,527 refugees and people granted asylum were living in the United States in 2023 (refugee and asylum stock estimate).https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-united-states
13
3,363 refugees were admitted to the United States in 2019 as part of the Presidential Determination process (number admitted).https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-2019shrg12164/pdf/CHRG-2019shrg12164.pdf
14
In 2023, Refugee Health program grantees reported that 76% of newly arriving refugees completed initial health screening appointments (completion rate).https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/orr_refugee_health_fy2023_grantee_report.pdf
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
The industry overview data shows refugees are a meaningful but bounded part of the immigration system, accounting for 7% of naturalizations in 2022 while U.S. support programs remain tightly time and outcome managed, such as Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance recertification covering 57% of eligible cases in FY 2023 and 88% of Refugee School Impact participants receiving attendance improvement follow up.
report visual · Projection
U.S. refugee resettlement has fluctuated over recent years
U.S. resettlement numbers changed across FY 2019–FY 2022, indicating year-to-year variation in refugee admissions.
22,491 Refugees resettled (FY)
Start
+31.58%
CAGR · 3y
51,236 Refugees resettled (FY)
Projected
20192022
source-verifiedacf.hhs.gov2022
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Isabelle Moreau. (2026, February 13). Refugees In The United States Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/refugees-in-the-united-states-statistics
MLA
Isabelle Moreau. "Refugees In The United States Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/refugees-in-the-united-states-statistics.
Chicago
Isabelle Moreau. 2026. "Refugees In The United States Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/refugees-in-the-united-states-statistics.
Sources & references
35 datasets cited across this report
+23 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)