California Immigrant Integration Scorecard - graphs

The figure shows four distinct groupings, with Santa Clara having made the most progress towards integration and Fresno having the furthest to catch-up. If one reads the whole report, you'll see that these cumulative scores reflect a great deal of variation in the four categories. For example, San Francisco does quite poorly on Economic Trajectory, but is a model when it comes to Warmth of Welcome; San Joaquin is nearly the polar opposite. Regions that scored at a more constant rate across all four categories include: Santa Clara, the East Bay, and Fresno – for better or for worse.

Like all Southern California regions, Los Angeles’ immigrant population is largely comprised of Mexican immigrants (41%). However, while other regions have seen growth in their Mexican immigrant population from 1980, Los Angeles’ share has remained roughly the same. The shares of immigrants from El Salvador, the Philippines, Guatemala, and Korea have increased since 1980.

The immigrant share of Los Angeles County’s population is near its highest point since 1870; nearly 3.5 million immigrants live here – comprising 35% of the population — the largest number of any region. About 77% of all immigrants have arrived since 1980, with 20% arriving in the last decade.

Los Angeles County scores a 2.6 overall, ranking eighth across the 10 regions, but tying with San Joaquin. The region performs well in Warmth of Welcome – unsurprising given its history as an immigrant gateway and hub of immigrant-serving organizations. The region does fairly well in Economic Trajectory – a sign of economic integration and improvement for immigrants over time. Its poorest performance is in economic snapshot, ranking last across all regions.