Foreign Born Population in Texas by County

The map above illustrates the estimated number of foreign-born individuals living in each Texas county as of 2012, based on 5 year ACS estimates. As you would expect, you see large numbers of foreign-born individuals concentrated around population centers such as DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso. You also see concentrations along the border with Mexico, which is to be expected. Some slightly larger concentrations are also noticeable across the panhandle, for unknown reasons, though it's possible to theorize that it may be related to oil and gas ventures and employment opportunities for legal and illegal immigrants.

The map doesn't reveal many surprises - a more in-depth analysis of the origin of individuals by country would be interesting, as would looking at the populations as percentages of the total population of the county, which would likely provide a different perspective than the total number.

The data set itself comes from the US Census FactFinder database. It included demographics on a wide range of issues, and was edited down to include only information relating to foreign-born individuals in Texas counties and their countries of origin.