The 3 Great Waves of U.S. Immigration · 1840–2025
Three long waves shaped the modern U.S. population. The Modern Era (1965-2025) added 76.3 million immigrants, with 50% from Latin America (Mexico alone 18.4M, 24% of all modern arrivals). The 1890-1919 wave brought 18.2M from Southern and Eastern Europe (Italy 3.8M, Austria-Hungary 3.7M, Russia and Poland 3.2M). The 1840-1889 wave was Northern Europe-dominated — Germany 4.3M, Ireland 3.2M, UK 2.6M.
Why this matters for B2B
The modern immigration wave is the single largest force in U.S. population growth and completely reshapes the mainstream consumer base. Latin American arrivals (50% of all modern immigrants) concentrate in Texas, California, Florida, Arizona and New York — those states carry the largest Spanish-language product demand, Latin food and health, and remittance-tied cross-border retail. Cube-Age's Houston hub is in the middle of that corridor. Pair with state migration flows (c79) and U.S. ancestry heritage groups (c14).
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), state GDP by industry, 2025 series. Visualization: Voronoi / Visual Capitalist ("Manufacturing's Share of U.S. GDP by State"). Original image reproduced above with source attribution intact.