How many refugees come to the US each year?

Refreshed monthly
About 11,500 refugees came to the US in 2025. That's 89.1% fewer than the prior year.
The US refugee system gives people fleeing persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group to resettle in the US. Unlike asylum seekers who apply for protection after arriving in the US or at its borders, refugees apply from outside the country. If approved, they undergo security screenings and health checks, and are then resettled in the US.

12K

refugee arrivals (2025)

-89%

change in refugee arrivals (from 2024)
The US has long accepted people fleeing persecution, violence, or disaster in their home countries. The modern approach to refugee resettlement began with the Refugee Act of 1980, which:
  • Amended the Immigration and Naturalization Act to adopt the United Nations definition of a refugee
  • Authorized admission of refugees under that definition
  • Established the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) to manage the refugee process

Read the complete refugee definition from the Immigration and Naturalization Act

“The term "refugee" means (A) any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or (B) in such special circumstances as the President after appropriate consultation (as defined in section 1157(e) of this title) may specify, any person who is within the country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, within the country in which such person is habitually residing, and who is persecuted or who has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The term "refugee" does not include any person who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. For purposes of determinations under this chapter, a person who has been forced to abort a pregnancy or to undergo involuntary sterilization, or who has been persecuted for failure or refusal to undergo such a procedure or for other resistance to a coercive population control program, shall be deemed to have been persecuted on account of political opinion, and a person who has a well founded fear that he or she will be forced to undergo such a procedure or subject to persecution for such failure, refusal, or resistance shall be deemed to have a well founded fear of persecution on account of political opinion.”

From 1980 to 2025, USRAP resettled more than 3.3 million refugees — about 72,800 per year.

Have refugee admissions increased or decreased over the last year?

Refugee admissions fell to 11,500 in 2025, down 89% from 2024. Taking the most recent monthly data into account, the 12-month rolling average in September 2026 was lower than in September 2025.

Both current events and domestic policy influence refugee admissions.

Monthly refugee admissions and 12-month rolling average, Oct 2000–Sep 2026

The number of admitted refugees fluctuates in response to both current events and domestic policy. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, refugee arrivals declined as the US government implemented stringent security measures. Admissions dropped to zero or near zero at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 due to global travel restrictions and health concerns and again in early 2025 when two executive orders issued by President Trump shifted how the US handles refugee admissions.

In 2025, refugee numbers were down in 79 countries compared to 2024.

Admitted refugees by country, 2025 vs. 2024

What is the refugee ceiling and how is it set?

In fiscal year (FY) 2026 — that's October 2025 through September 2026 — the US will admit no more than 17,500 refugees — the refugee ceiling. This annual cap is set by the president in consultation with Congress, specifically with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. This process is mandated by the Refugee Act of 1980 to ensure that the US refugee admissions program remains responsive to global humanitarian needs while taking domestic considerations into account.
Initially set high in the 1980s, refugee ceilings have fluctuated over the decades due to various administrations' policies. These ceilings can also be adjusted mid-fiscal year, particularly when a new president has been sworn in. For instance, in 2017, President Obama set a ceiling of 110,000, but President Trump reduced it to 50,000 through an executive order after taking office. Similarly, in 2021, the ceiling was initially set at 15,000, but President Biden later increased it to 62,500.

The refugee ceiling for fiscal year 2026 is set at 17,500.

Refugee ceilings and annual admissions, by fiscal year

What countries do refugees come from?

In 2025, the top five countries of origin for refugees admitted to the US were:
  1. Venezuela (2,172, vs. 14,463 in 2024)
  2. Afghanistan (1,535, vs. 17,032 in 2024)
  3. Democratic Republic of the Congo (1,124, vs. 18,758 in 2024)
  4. South Africa (1,059, vs. one in 2024)
  5. Syria (950, vs. 10,396 in 2024)
Since 2000, the US has admitted at least one refugee from 127 different countries.

Explore refugee arrivals to the US.

New refugee arrivals by country of origin, 2000-2025

What states do refugees settle in once they reach the US?

Admitted refugees are resettled by the federal government, led by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), in partnership with a network of nonprofit resettlement agencies. Resettlement decisions consider factors such as the refugee's family ties in an area, the availability of housing, job opportunities, and local service capacity. The states in which the most refugees were resettled in fiscal year 2024 were:
  1. Texas (9,750 refugees)
  2. California (7,590 refugees)
  3. New York (6,190 refugees)
  4. Florida (4,580 refugees)
  5. Pennsylvania (4,480 refugees)
  6. Washington (4,010 refugees)
  7. Illinois (3,800 refugees)
  8. Arizona (3,780 refugees)
  9. Michigan (3,660 refugees)
  10. Ohio (3,610 refugees)
The only state in which ORR did not settle refugees in FY 2024 was Wyoming. (In the years since FY 2013 — the earliest data available — Wyoming is the only state where no refugees have been initially resettled).
To see how the number of refugees resettled each year compare to each state’s population size, the source data provides a metric — refugees per million. This equalizes the populations of each state and controls for whether a state is big or small. (Some states don’t actually have a million residents; their numbers are scaled up to a million so we can make comparisons across states without population size getting in the way.)

The state where the most refugees were settled relative to its population size was Nebraska.

Refugee arrivals per million by resettlement state, FY 2024

When factoring in the population of a state, refugees were most commonly resettled in:
  1. Nebraska (923 refugees per million residents)
  2. Iowa (862 per million)
  3. Vermont (658 per million)
  4. Kentucky (636 per million)
  5. Minnesota (518 per million)
They were least frequently resettled in Wyoming, Hawaii, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Once resettled, refugees can move freely around the country like any other legal resident, so there’s no way to track where all the people who came to the US as refugees are currently living. The Census Bureau tracks the number of foreign-born people living in each state, but this includes people who came to the US via all pathways, not just refugees.

Number of refugees resettled in the US, by fiscal year

New arrival refugees, 1975–2026

Number of refugees resettled in the US, by fiscal year
Fiscal yearTotal admissions

2026 

16292

2025 

38102

2024 

100034

2023 

60014

2022 

25465

2021 

11411

2020 

11814

2019 

30000

2018 

22676

2017 

53716

Keep exploring

Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.