U.S. Census Office, Distribution of the Foreign Born Population of the United States (1898)

This choropleth map, published in the 1890 Statistical Atlas of the United States under the direction of Henry Gannett, depicts the distribution of the immigrant population across the United States. Darker shading indicates a higher number of immigrants per square mile. The map highlights a clear settlement pattern in which immigrants were concentrated primarily in northern states rather than southern ones. This pattern reflects the North’s rapidly expanding industrial economy, which offered more employment opportunities, in contrast to the South’s largely agrarian economy, which provided fewer incentives for immigrant settlement.The map also reveals especially high concentrations of immigrants along the East Coast, particularly in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. These concentrations reflect the role of East Coast ports as primary points of entry for the approximately 12 million immigrants who arrived in the United States during the late nineteenth century. New York City, in particular, received roughly 70 percent of all immigrants during this period. While the East Coast and Midwest were the primary destinations for immigrants, California also shows a relatively high immigrant population, reflecting the continued draw of opportunities created by the California Gold Rush.