Where refugees in Kentucky are arriving from

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 the 2022 fiscal year, twice the 2021 total.

Refugee arrivals during the 2023 fiscal year dramatically outpaced the prior two years, reaching over 60,000 from October 2022 to September 2023.

In May 2024, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from Congo, Afghanistan, and Venezuela. 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. Afghan refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries for decades, especially to Pakistan and Iran, which combined host over 8 million Afghans. In Venezuela, over 7.5 million people have left the country due to extreme inflation, violence, food and medicine scarcity, and other factors. Most have resettled in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Stacker referenced data from the Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in Kentucky in May 2024. Countries with only one refugee since October 2023 are not included.

May refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in May
To Kentucky:
#1. Congo: 113
#2. Somalia: 39
#3. Afghanistan: 18
#4. Syria: 15
#5. Myanmar: 8
#5. Venezuela: 8
#7. Nicaragua: 7
#8. Colombia: 3
#8. Haiti: 3
#10. Sudan: 2
#11. Rwanda: 1

To the U.S. as a whole:
#1. Congo: 1,290
#2. Afghanistan: 1,111
#3. Venezuela: 937
#4. Somalia: 635
#5. Nicaragua: 584

States that accepted the most refugees in May:
#1. Texas: 653
#2. New York: 609
#3. California: 467
#4. Minnesota: 397
#5. Arizona: 369

Read on to see the countries that Kentucky has accepted the most refugees from since the start of the fiscal year in October 2023.

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#1. Congo

Refugees that arrived from Congo since October 2023
To Kentucky: 1,219

To the U.S. as a whole: 14,611
Top states receiving refugees from Congo
#1. Texas: 1,337
#2. Kentucky: 1,219
#3. Arizona: 1,020
#4. New York: 939
#5. Ohio: 924

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#2. Syria

Refugees that arrived from Syria since October 2023
To Kentucky: 124

To the U.S. as a whole: 8,231
Top states receiving refugees from Syria
#1. New York: 838
#2. Michigan: 761
#3. Pennsylvania: 579
#4. Texas: 458
#5. California: 445

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#3. Somalia

Refugees that arrived from Somalia since October 2023
To Kentucky: 113

To the U.S. as a whole: 2,781
Top states receiving refugees from Somalia
#1. Minnesota: 895
#2. Ohio: 194
#3. New York: 163
#4. Arizona: 142
#5. Missouri: 140

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#4. Afghanistan

Refugees that arrived from Afghanistan since October 2023
To Kentucky: 61

To the U.S. as a whole: 8,881
Top states receiving refugees from Afghanistan
#1. California: 1,819
#2. Texas: 898
#3. Virginia: 822
#4. Washington: 559
#5. New York: 424

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#5. Myanmar

Refugees that arrived from Myanmar since October 2023
To Kentucky: 55

To the U.S. as a whole: 4,653
Top states receiving refugees from Myanmar
#1. Texas: 542
#2. Illinois: 525
#3. New York: 455
#4. Georgia: 342
#5. Wisconsin: 286

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#6. Ukraine

Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since October 2023
To Kentucky: 35

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,223
Top states receiving refugees from Ukraine
#1. Washington: 467
#2. California: 201
#3. New York: 75
#4. Florida: 55
#5. Ohio: 54

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#7. Venezuela

Refugees that arrived from Venezuela since October 2023
To Kentucky: 27

To the U.S. as a whole: 4,453
Top states receiving refugees from Venezuela
#1. Florida: 787
#2. Texas: 630
#3. Illinois: 291
#4. Georgia: 210
#5. North Carolina: 173

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#8. Guatemala

Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since October 2023
To Kentucky: 24

To the U.S. as a whole: 2,917
Top states receiving refugees from Guatemala
#1. California: 385
#2. Texas: 284
#3. Florida: 194
#4. North Carolina: 182
#5. New York: 133

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#8. Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Sudan since October 2023
To Kentucky: 24

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,423
Top states receiving refugees from Sudan
#1. New York: 123
#2. Texas: 112
#3. Pennsylvania: 95
#4. Ohio: 94
#5. Missouri: 90

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#10. Pakistan

Refugees that arrived from Pakistan since October 2023
To Kentucky: 22

To the U.S. as a whole: 637
Top states receiving refugees from Pakistan
#1. Pennsylvania: 101
#2. Texas: 61
#3. Virginia: 57
#4. North Carolina: 46
#5. New York: 41

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#11. Nicaragua

Refugees that arrived from Nicaragua since October 2023
To Kentucky: 16

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,662
Top states receiving refugees from Nicaragua
#1. Florida: 212
#2. California: 129
#3. Texas: 118
#4. Minnesota: 90
#5. Georgia: 75

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#11. Central African Republic

Refugees that arrived from Central African Republic since October 2023
To Kentucky: 16

To the U.S. as a whole: 700
Top states receiving refugees from Central African Republic
#1. Missouri: 75
#2. Texas: 72
#3. Michigan: 55
#4. Georgia: 43
#5. Massachusetts: 38

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#13. Honduras

Refugees that arrived from Honduras since October 2023
To Kentucky: 15

To the U.S. as a whole: 645
Top states receiving refugees from Honduras
#1. Texas: 111
#2. Florida: 85
#3. Georgia: 40
#4. California: 39
#5. New York: 36

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#14. Republic of South Sudan

Refugees that arrived from Republic of South Sudan since October 2023
To Kentucky: 12

To the U.S. as a whole: 925
Top states receiving refugees from Republic of South Sudan
#1. Texas: 94
#2. Nebraska: 82
#3. Colorado: 66
#3. Arizona: 66
#5. New York: 61

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#14. Rwanda

Refugees that arrived from Rwanda since October 2023
To Kentucky: 12

To the U.S. as a whole: 201
Top states receiving refugees from Rwanda
#1. Texas: 49
#2. South Carolina: 12
#2. Kentucky: 12
#2. Arizona: 12
#5. North Carolina: 11

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#16. Iraq

Refugees that arrived from Iraq since October 2023
To Kentucky: 10

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,119
Top states receiving refugees from Iraq
#1. California: 179
#2. Michigan: 137
#3. Texas: 90
#4. Nebraska: 64
#5. Washington: 57

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#17. Colombia

Refugees that arrived from Colombia since October 2023
To Kentucky: 9

To the U.S. as a whole: 871
Top states receiving refugees from Colombia
#1. Florida: 114
#2. North Carolina: 82
#3. Texas: 71
#4. New York: 64
#5. Washington: 59

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#18. Eritrea

Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since October 2023
To Kentucky: 8

To the U.S. as a whole: 1,543
Top states receiving refugees from Eritrea
#1. Texas: 157
#2. Washington: 143
#3. North Carolina: 104
#4. Ohio: 97
#5. lowa: 91

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#19. Burundi

Refugees that arrived from Burundi since October 2023
To Kentucky: 7

To the U.S. as a whole: 459
Top states receiving refugees from Burundi
#1. Texas: 54
#2. Arizona: 49
#3. New York: 41
#4. Pennsylvania: 37
#5. Nebraska: 27

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#20. Belarus

Refugees that arrived from Belarus since October 2023
To Kentucky: 4

To the U.S. as a whole: 284
Top states receiving refugees from Belarus
#1. Washington: 70
#2. California: 50
#3. Massachusetts: 26
#4. New York: 25
#5. Pennsylvania: 22

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#21. El Salvador

Refugees that arrived from El Salvador since October 2023
To Kentucky: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 926
Top states receiving refugees from El Salvador
#1. Texas: 131
#2. California: 105
#2. Maryland: 105
#4. Virginia: 70
#5. North Carolina: 63

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#21. Haiti

Refugees that arrived from Haiti since October 2023
To Kentucky: 3

To the U.S. as a whole: 157
Top states receiving refugees from Haiti
#1. Pennsylvania: 26
#2. Florida: 22
#3. Georgia: 14
#4. Arizona: 12
#5. Colorado: 9

This story features data reporting and writing by Emma Rubin and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 46 states.