The percentage of U.S. residents born outside the country reached its highest level in more than a century in 2023, according to figures from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, released on Thursday. 

The share of foreign-born residents grew to 14.3% last year, up from 13.9% in 2022, marking the highest level since 1910 when the figure stood at 14.7%. The survey provides a detailed look at American life, tracking topics like employment, education, family life, and income, reports Associated Press.

International migration has become a key driver of US population growth this decade, as birth rates within the country decline. In 2023, international migrants accounted for more than two-thirds of U.S. population growth. So far this decade, they have contributed to nearly three-quarters of the nation’s growth.

Much of this increase is attributed to migrants from Latin America, whose share of the US foreign-born population rose to 51.2% in 2023, up from 50.3% the previous year. In contrast, the share of foreign-born residents from Europe and Asia declined slightly.

“We knew that here you could have savings, live well, and access normal services like water and electricity,” said Luciana Bracho, who moved to Miami from Venezuela in April 2023 under a humanitarian parole program. Bracho and her family are among the many Latin American migrants contributing to the population surge.

Among US states, Delaware, Georgia, and New Mexico saw significant increases in their foreign-born populations, while the share of foreign-born residents dropped slightly in states like Idaho, Iowa, and Oregon.

The survey does not distinguish between legal and illegal residents. However, immigration has become a key issue in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, despite a decrease in illegal border crossings this summer after a record high last December.

The U.S. population continues to age, with the median age rising to 39.2 in 2023. The share of senior citizens increased from 17.3% to 17.7%, as Baby Boomers enter retirement and Millennials move into middle age. In contrast, the proportion of children under 18 remained stable at 21.7%.

In terms of racial demographics, the Hispanic population grew to 19.4%, while the non-Hispanic white population decreased to 57.1%. The share of US residents identifying as Black alone dropped slightly to 12.1%, while the Asian population increased marginally to 6%.

Meanwhile, a post-pandemic bump in working from home continued its slide back to pre-COVID-19 times, as the share of employees working from home dropped last year to 13.8% from 15.2% in the previous year.

In 2021, the first full year after the pandemic’s start, almost 18% of employees were working from home, up from 5.7% in 2019. But return-to-office mandates in the past two years have reversed that trend and caused commute times to bump up slightly last year, growing on average to 26.8 minutes from 26.4 minutes.