Immigrant concentration and educational attainment: Evidence from US data

Ninety-five percent of the 30 million foreign-born persons living in the United States reside in a metropolitan area, and more than one half reside in just six gateway cities. We investigate whether less-educated immigrants tend to settle in large urban communities of their compatriots. Based on statistical analysis we find a negative relationship between the level of education and the size of immigrant population for the immigrants born in China, India, Philippines, Korea, El Salvador, Cuba, and Mexico. The relationship is strongest for Chinese, with a decrease of 2.7 years in average educational attainment for each tenfold increase in the size of immigrant community. Generally, this relationship is stronger for the immigrants from Asia and Latin America and nonexistent or mixed for immigrants from Europe and Canada.