Where refugees in Pennsylvania are arriving from

(STACKER) — During the past five decades, the U.S. has resettled over 3 million refugees, making it one of the leading countries for finding new homes for people fleeing violence, persecution, and war.

In 2021, then-President Donald Trump lowered the annual cap of refugees that could be admitted into the country to 15,000. Even as the Biden administration has raised the ceiling to 125,000, the annual number of refugees arriving in the U.S. didn’t immediately bounce back to pre-Trump administration levels. The numbers are increasing though, with over 25,000 refugees arriving in the U.S. in 2022, twice the 2021 total.

Refugee arrivals in 2023 are on track to outpace the two previous years, with over 44,000 refugees arriving since January.

In August 2023, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Syria, Congo, and Afghanistan. Each nation faces a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.

For the last three decades, Congo, also called the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been struggling with a series of civil wars and internal battles that have left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries. Syria has seen more than 5 million refugees flee to neighboring nations since 2011 while a longstanding civil war rages, with an additional 6.8 million people forced from their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere in the country. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans.

Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Pennsylvania in August 2023.

August refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in August
To Pennsylvania:
#1. Syria: 85
#2. Congo: 30
#3. Colombia: 16
#4. Guatemala: 14
#5. Afghanistan: 13
#6. Eritrea: 9
#6. Venezuela: 9
#8. Burma: 8
#9. El Salvador: 5
#9. Belarus: 5
#9. Kazakhstan: 5
#9. Turkmenistan: 5
#13. Nicaragua: 3
#13. Pakistan: 3
#15. Sudan: 2
#16. Haiti: 1
#16. Somalia: 1
#16. Iraq: 1

To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Syria: 1,429
#2. Congo: 1,085
#3. Afghanistan: 710
#4. Burma: 479
#5. Guatemala: 292

States that accepted the most refugees in August:
#1. California: 562
#2. Texas: 422
#3. New York: 384
#4. Illinois: 283
#5. North Carolina: 274

Read on to see the countries that Pennsylvania has accepted the most refugees from since October 2022.

#1. Congo

Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 633

To the U.S. as a whole: 15,675
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,551
#2. Kentucky: 1,542
#3. Ohio: 1,173
#4. Arizona: 1,021
#5. New York: 821

#2. Syria

Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 557

To the U.S. as a whole: 8,238
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. Michigan: 810
#2. New York: 645
#3. Texas: 594
#4. Pennsylvania: 557
#5. California: 541

#3. Afghanistan

Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 204

To the U.S. as a whole: 5,725
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 1,105
#2. Texas: 623
#3. Virginia: 614
#4. New York: 364
#5. Washington: 341

#4. Burma

Refugees that arrived from Burma since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 117

To the U.S. as a whole: 5,717
Top states receiving refugees from Burma
#1. Wisconsin: 637
#2. Texas: 598
#3. Indiana: 580
#4. New York: 523
#5. Illinois: 484

#5. Guatemala

Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 109

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,563
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 219
#2. Florida: 139
#3. Pennsylvania: 109
#4. North Carolina: 97
#5. New York: 87

#6. Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 75

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,505
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. Ohio: 116
#2. Illinois: 99
#3. Georgia: 96
#4. New York: 85
#5. Nebraska: 79

#6. Colombia

Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 75

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,085
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. New York: 126
#2. Florida: 119
#3. North Carolina: 108
#4. New Jersey: 85
#5. Pennsylvania: 75

#8. Venezuela

Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 62

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,129
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Florida: 236
#2. Texas: 131
#3. Pennsylvania: 62
#4. North Carolina: 53
#5. Colorado: 51

#9. Ukraine

Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 61

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,303
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 412
#2. California: 241
#3. New York: 95
#4. Ohio: 72
#5. Pennsylvania: 61

#10. Pakistan

Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 56

To the U.S. as a whole: 391
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 56
#2. New York: 43
#3. Virginia: 40
#4. California: 38
#5. Georgia: 35

#11. Kyrgyzstan

Refugees that arrived from Kyrgyzstan since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 39

To the U.S. as a whole: 141
Top states receiving refugees from Kyrgyzstan
#1. Pennsylvania: 39
#2. Washington: 36
#3. New York: 23
#4. Florida: 11
#5. Massachusetts: 8

#12. Eritrea

Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 25

To the U.S. as a whole: 867
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Ohio: 81
#2. Washington: 73
#3. Texas: 65
#4. Colorado: 48
#5. New York: 46

#13. El Salvador

Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 23

To the U.S. as a whole: 957
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. California: 96
#2. Texas: 95
#3. North Carolina: 87
#4. New York: 82
#5. Maryland: 81

#13. Burundi

Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 23

To the U.S. as a whole: 272
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Iowa: 38
#2. Texas: 32
#3. Pennsylvania: 23
#4. Missouri: 21
#5. Michigan: 15

#15. Central African Republic

Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 21

To the U.S. as a whole: 597
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Texas: 92
#2. Colorado: 52
#3. Georgia: 40
#4. Arizona: 39
#5. Oregon: 37

#16. Iraq

Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 20

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,061
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. Michigan: 146
#2. California: 142
#3. Texas: 126
#4. Washington: 65
#5. Illinois: 63

#17. Somalia

Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 16

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,034
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 330
#2. Ohio: 88
#3. Arizona: 58
#4. Washington: 51
#5. New York: 44

#18. Kazakhstan

Refugees that arrived from Kazakhstan since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 9

To the U.S. as a whole: 43
Top states receiving refugees from Kazakhstan
#1. Tennessee: 14
#2. Washington: 12
#3. Pennsylvania: 9
#4. Florida: 4
#4. Minnesota: 4

#18. Russia

Refugees that arrived from Russia since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 9

To the U.S. as a whole: 234
Top states receiving refugees from Russia
#1. California: 67
#2. Washington: 57
#3. Oregon: 26
#4. Ohio: 11
#5. Minnesota: 9

#20. Rwanda

Refugees that arrived from Rwanda since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 6

To the U.S. as a whole: 66
Top states receiving refugees from Rwanda
#1. Ohio: 14
#2. Illinois: 11
#3. North Carolina: 6
#3. Pennsylvania: 6
#3. South Carolina: 6

#20. Mali

Refugees that arrived from Mali since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 6

To the U.S. as a whole: 26
Top states receiving refugees from Mali
#1. Pennsylvania: 6
#2. North Carolina: 4
#3. Arizona: 2
#3. Louisiana: 2
#3. Massachusetts: 2

#20. Belarus

Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 6

To the U.S. as a whole: 90
Top states receiving refugees from Belarus
#1. California: 24
#2. North Carolina: 17
#3. Washington: 15
#4. Georgia: 11
#5. Ohio: 7

#23. Ethiopia

Refugees that arrived from Ethiopia since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 362
Top states receiving refugees from Ethiopia
#1. Minnesota: 145
#2. Washington: 31
#3. New York: 19
#4. Georgia: 17
#5. Colorado: 16

#23. Honduras

Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 547
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Florida: 72
#2. Texas: 71
#3. North Carolina: 42
#4. Maryland: 31
#4. Massachusetts: 31

#23. Turkmenistan

Refugees that arrived from Turkmenistan since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 5

To the U.S. as a whole: 5
Top states receiving refugees from Turkmenistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 5

#26. Nicaragua

Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 4

To the U.S. as a whole: 156
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 29
#2. Texas: 20
#3. Arizona: 10
#3. Maryland: 10
#3. Massachusetts: 10

#26. Haiti

Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 4

To the U.S. as a whole: 32
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. New York: 5
#1. Ohio: 5
#3. Colorado: 4
#3. Pennsylvania: 4
#5. California: 3

#28. Iran

Refugees that arrived from Iran since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 675
Top states receiving refugees from Iran
#1. Texas: 150
#2. California: 145
#3. Washington: 75
#4. Georgia: 43
#5. Nevada: 27

#28. Guinea

Refugees that arrived from Guinea since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 23
Top states receiving refugees from Guinea
#1. Illinois: 11
#2. Pennsylvania: 3
#3. Kentucky: 2
#3. Massachusetts: 2
#3. Ohio: 2

#30. Uganda

Refugees that arrived from Uganda since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 2

To the U.S. as a whole: 38
Top states receiving refugees from Uganda
#1. Ohio: 6
#2. Arizona: 4
#2. Colorado: 4
#2. Illinois: 4
#2. New Jersey: 4

#30. Nepal

Refugees that arrived from Nepal since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 2

To the U.S. as a whole: 18
Top states receiving refugees from Nepal
#1. Ohio: 5
#2. Illinois: 4
#3. Pennsylvania: 2
#3. Tennessee: 2
#3. Vermont: 2

#30. Senegal

Refugees that arrived from Senegal since October 2022
To Pennsylvania: 2

To the U.S. as a whole: 86
Top states receiving refugees from Senegal
#1. Illinois: 12
#2. Texas: 9
#2. Massachusetts: 9
#4. South Carolina: 8
#5. North Carolina: 7