The Rock Hill region has a growing number of non-citizens. Here’s a closer look

Amid national unrest surrounding immigration enforcement and citizenship status, new census figures shine a light on the Rock Hill region to show who lives here, where they came from and how communities are changing.

The number of people born in other countries is increasing along with the total population across York, Lancaster and Chester counties, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Thursday. So, too, is the number of residents who are not U.S. citizens.

Nearly 28,000 people across the three-county region, or 6.4% of everyone here, were born outside the U.S. as non-citizens. Of those residents, 46.4% became naturalized citizens. The other 53.6%, or nearly 15,000 people, aren’t citizens.

The new figures are estimate averages from a five-year span of Census Bureau surveys, ending in 2024, known as the American Community Survey. Five-year numbers are the most accurate estimates the Census Bureau produces across a range of topics, and for the widest range of communities. Citizenship is one of those topics.

The Census Bureau never asks survey participants whether they are in the country legally.

Non-citizens could be undocumented immigrants. They could also be school teachers brought in from other countries amid staff shortages, or skilled workers in a growing number of international businesses across the region.

The Rock Hill region’s growth in non-citizens is tied both to its overall population increase, and a higher rate of foreign-born residents.

There are nearly 5,000 more non-citizens listed in the 2020-2024 survey than in the 2015-2019 one. They make up 3.4% of the total population in the latest survey, up from 2.5% in the 2015-2019 data.

Naturalized citizens show a similar trend. They comprise 3% of the total population in the most recent figures, up from 2.4% in 2015-2029. That’s in increase of more than 3,500 naturalized citizens in that span.

Rock Hill region non-citizens and naturalized citizens

Area residents born in different countries took varying routes to get here, the new federal figures show.

Non-citizens across the state and region are far likelier to have been born in Latin America than in any other region. Only Fort Mill is the exception, where 9.5% of its non-citizens came from Latin American countries.

In Rock Hill, that figure is 81.2%. People born in Latin America make up 49% of York County’s non-citizens, compared to 64.4% in Lancaster County and 93.3% in Chester County.

People born in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America are more likely to be naturalized citizens. Fort Mill, again, is the exception with its population from North America.

There are nearly three times as many non-citizens as naturalized ones in the town, from that region.

Overall, though, people from Latin America account for the most naturalized citizens. York County has 226 more naturalized citizens from Asia than from Latin America, but Lancaster and Chester counties have a combined 520 more from Latin America.

More on Rock Hill region citizenship

Here are some additional details on the Rock Hill region’s non-citizen population:

• 52.3% of non-citizens are male. Of them, 87.2% are adults. Among females, 88.1% are adults. The percentage of males is higher among non-citizens than the 48.7% mark for all residents in the region.
• Fewer than a quarter of Hispanic residents, 23.3%, are non-citizens.
• The median age for non-citizen men is 39.8 in Lancaster County, 38.7 in York County and 37.5 in Chester County. For women, it’s 46.1 in Chester County, 38.4 in York County and 37.4 in Lancaster County.
• 66.4% of non-citizens came to this country since 2010. Another 20% arrive from 2000 to 2009, with 8.8% coming in the 1990s. The remaining 4.7%, nearly 700 people, got here before 1990.
• 7.2% of non-citizens moved to the region from another country within the past year. Another 9.5% moved from another state, .8% moved counties within South Carolina and 4.1% moved within the same county.
• 15.3% of non-citizens only speak English, compared to 44.9% who speak Spanish. Another 37.8% speak other languages. Among Spanish-speakers, 24.9% responded that they speak English “very well.”
• In the past year, 85.7% of non-citizens earned income at or above the poverty line. The rate for all residents in the region was 90.1%.
• About 5,100 non-citizens have no health insurance coverage, compared to more than 28,000 native citizens without it. That’s a 34.7% rate of non-coverage for non-citizens compared to 7.1% for native citizens.
• Of people who became naturalized citizens, 27.4% did so since 2015. Another 17.3% became citizens prior to 1990.