View source for National Origins Formula

{{Short description|American system of immigration quotas in use from 1921 to 1965}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2011}}

The '''National Origins Formula''' is an umbrella term for a series of quantitative [[immigration to the United States|immigration]] quotas in the [[United States]] used from 1921 to 1965, which restricted immigration from the [[Eastern Hemisphere]] on the basis of national origin. These restrictions included legislation and federal acts. Since there is no one formula that can account for each law or restriction across the decades, as the scale, variables, and demographic characteristics change per law, the concept of National Origins Formula is best described as a collection of quantitative data considerations in immigration and migration laws in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Milestones: 1921–1936 - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=history.state.gov}}</ref>

== History ==
Temporary measures establishing quota limits per country based on the makeup of the foreign-born population residing in the U.S. were introduced in 1921 ([[Emergency Quota Act]]) and 1924 ([[Immigration Act of 1924]]); these were replaced by a permanent quota system based on each nationality's share of the total U.S. population [[1920 United States census|as of 1920]], which took effect on July 1, 1929 and governed American immigration law until December 1, 1965 (when the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]] abolished it). The National Origins Formula aimed to preserve the existing ethnic proportions of the population as calculated according to data from the 1920 Census of Population.<ref name="ABA1924" /><ref name="statabstract1931" /><ref name="statabstract1966" />

The 1921 [[Emergency Quota Act]] restricted immigration to 3% of foreign-born persons of each nationality that resided in the United States in 1910.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Divine |first1=Robert A. |title=America, Past and Present |date=2002 |publisher=Longman |location=New York |page=752 |edition=8th |isbn=978-0-321-08403-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EJn51M6z7X0C&q=quota%20system |access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref>

The [[Immigration Act of 1924]], also called the National Origins Act, provided that for three years the formula would change from 3% to 2% and the basis for the calculation would be the census of 1890 instead of that of 1910. After June 30, 1927, total immigration from all countries will be limited to 150,000, with allocations by country based upon national origins of inhabitants according to the census of 1920. The quota system applied only to non-Asian immigrants. It aimed to reduce the overall number of unskilled immigrants, to allow families to re-unite, and to prevent immigration from changing the ethnic distribution of the population. The 1924 Act also included the [[Asian Exclusion Act]], which limited immigration to persons eligible for naturalization. 
As a result, East Asians and South Asians were effectively banned from immigrating. Africans were also subjected to severe restrictions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5078/ |title=Who Was Shut Out? |access-date=2014-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151216211400/http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5078/ |archive-date=2015-12-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Immigration from North and South America was not restricted.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

== National origins computation ==
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = National Origins Formula quota calculation process under the Immigration Act of 1924.png
| width1            = 250
| caption1          = Introduction to the process of National Origins Formula quota computation as prescribed by subsections (b), (c), (d) of §11 of the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], in a 1950 report by a Senate Committee chaired by [[Pat McCarran]]. Describing the formula in effect since 1929 as “cumbersome”, the consequent 1952 [[McCarran–Walter Act]] adopted a simplified formula intended to arrive at roughly-equivalent results.<ref name="McCarran1950-3">{{cite report|title=Investigation of the Immigration and Naturalization Systems of the United States|author=[[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary]]|id=Senate Report № 81-1515|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2008,0701-senatereport81-1515part3of5.pdf|pages=370–569|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911144201/https://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2008,0701-senatereport81-1515part3of5.pdf|date=April 20, 1950|archive-date=September 11, 2022|access-date=September 16, 2022}}</ref>
| alt1              = 
| image2            =  National Origins of the White Population of the USA, 1920.png
| width2            = 270
| caption2          = National origins of the white population of the United States in 1920, computed for apportionment of annual immigration quotas according to National Origins Formula, as prescribed by §11(c) of the Immigration Act of 1924. About 45% of white Americans were deemed of colonial stock, 21.6% were grandchildren and later generations of post-colonial immigrants, and 1/3 were immigrants or children of immigrants in 1920.<ref name="McCarran1950-5">{{cite report|title=Investigation of the Immigration and Naturalization Systems of the United States|author=[[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary]]|id=Senate Report № 81-1515|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2008,0701-senatereport81-1515part5of5.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908005206/https://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2008,0701-senatereport81-1515part5of5.pdf|date=April 20, 1950|pages=768–925|archive-date=September 8, 2022|access-date=September 16, 2022}}</ref>
| image3            =White Americans by National Origin in the 1790 Census (1909 CPG and 1929 ACLS estimates).png
| width3            = 270
| caption3          = National origins of [[European Americans]] in 1790, according to a preliminary government estimate in 1909 [[United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau]] report ''A Century of Population Growth'' (top half) and revised scholarly estimates produced in collaboration with the [[American Council of Learned Societies]] in time for fiscal year 1929 (bottom half).<ref name="CPG1909" /> The 1909 figures were first accepted for quota calculation in 1926, but the accuracy came under scrutiny for using an unscientific methodology that significantly overestimated the [[English Americans|English]] share of the population—the primary reason the quota formula due to take effect in 1927 pursuant to §11(b) was delayed for two years until more precise revised estimates were available, given their importance as basis for calculating the origins of the total national stock.<ref name="ACLS1929" />
| alt3              = 
}}
Under the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], the [[United States Census Bureau|Bureau of the Census]] and [[United States Department of Commerce|Department of Commerce]] were tasked with estimating the ''National Origins of the White Population of the United States in 1920'' in numbers, then calculating the percentage share each nationality made up as a fraction of the total. The National Origins Formula derived quotas by calculating the equivalent proportion of each nationality out of a total pool of 150,000 annual quota immigrants. This formula was used until the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952]] adopted a simplified formula limiting each country to a quota of one-sixth of one percent of that nationality's 1920 population count, with a minimum quota of 100.<ref name="statabstract1930">{{cite journal|date=July 1930|title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1930.|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1930/compendia/statab/52ed/1930-04.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce|pages=102–105|edition=52nd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326085609/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1930/compendia/statab/52ed/1930-04.pdf|archive-date=March 26, 2021|access-date=August 9, 2021}}</ref><ref name="statabstract1931">{{cite journal|date=August 1931|title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1931.|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1931/compendia/statab/53ed/1931-03.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce|pages=103–107|edition=53rd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329144712/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1931/compendia/statab/53ed/1931-03.pdf|archive-date=March 29, 2021|access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref><ref name="statabstract1966" />

The formula required classification of the national origins by birth or ancestry of all [[white Americans]], except those having origins in the nonquota countries of the [[Western Hemisphere]]. The total white American population in 1920 was estimated at 94,820,915. White Americans with origins in the Western Hemisphere were estimated at 5,314,357—approximately 4,085,000 from [[Canada]] and [[Newfoundland]]; 1,126,000 from [[Mexico]]; 66,000 from the [[West Indies]]; and 37,000 from [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]]. This left the total relevant population for the quota calculation formula at 89,506,558.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

To compute the proportions of blood each national origin had contributed to the American population as of 1920, demographers divided the population into four more easily classifiable groups by generation. The process was complicated due to the more limited set of data recorded in the country's earlier decades compared to the increasingly detailed information published in later versions of the [[United States census]]. 49,182,158 were deemed to be of ''immigrant stock'', accounting for 55% of the total, subdivided into three categories. The easiest to classify were the two most recently-arrived generations of immigrants, accounting for 1/3 of the 1920 total:<ref name="trends">{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=Warren Simpson|last2=Whelpton|first2=Pascal Kidder|date=1933|title=Population trends in the United States|publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company|location=New York|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015006471422|chapter=Chapter III The National Origins of the White Population|series=Recent social trends monographs |hdl=2027/mdp.39015006471422?urlappend=%3Bseq=99 |chapter-url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015006471422?urlappend=%3Bseq=99%3Bownerid=13510798883835578-103|oclc=3529140}}</ref>
* 13.5% of the total: 12,071,282 ''immigrants'' classified by land of foreign-birth recorded in the [[1920 United States census|1920 Census]] 
* 19.7% of the total: 17,620,676 ''children of immigrants'' classified by land of foreign-birth, foreign parentage, or foreign mother tongue in the [[1920 United States census|1920]] or [[1910 United States census|1910 Census]] 
* 21.8% of the total: 19,490,200 ''grandchildren and later generations'' of immigrants classified based on past records of immigration and naturalization: persons of foreign-birth, parentage, or mother tongue in the Census counts of 1920 and 1910; foreign-birth or parentage in [[1900 United States census|1900]] and [[1890 United States census|1890]]; foreign-born in the Census counts of [[1850 United States census|1850]]-[[1880 United States census|1880]]; and records of immigrants admitted 1820-1840.
* 45.0% of the total: 40,324,400 descendants of [[Old Stock Americans|colonial stock]], apportioned into the same ethnic proportional makeup as the population enumerated in the [[1790 United States census|1790 Census]]<ref name="trends" />

=== Colonial stock estimation ===
Calculation of the [[Old Stock Americans|colonial stock]] proved challenging, and delayed formula implementation from 1927 to 1929. The 1790 Census recorded a total of 3,172,444 [[European Americans]]; their 40,324,400 ''colonial stock'' descendants in 1920 were allocated into national origin blocs proportional to the ratio of nationalities that had existed in the 1790 population, adjusted to account for natural growth as of 1920.

The national origins of the ''colonial stock'' had to be estimated by careful analysis of the limited information recorded in the first [[United States census|U.S. Census]]: scholarly classification of the approximately 30,000 unique names of [[White Americans|white]] heads of families recorded in the [[1790 United States census|1790 Census]] into their respective national stocks.<ref name="ACLS1929" />

In 1924, the only Census Bureau estimate of colonial stock makeup had been published more than a decade prior in 1909 report ''A Century of Population Growth'', which put the 1790 population at 82.1% [[English Americans|English]] (incl. [[Welsh Americans|Welsh]]), 7.0% [[Scottish Americans|Scotch]], 1.9% [[Irish Americans|Irish]], 2.5% [[Dutch Americans|Dutch]], 0.6% [[French Americans|French]] and 5.6% [[German Americans|German]].<ref name="CPG1909">{{cite book|date=1909|title=A Century of Population Growth. From the First to the Twelfth Census of the United States: 1790-1900.|first1=W. S.|last1=Rossiter|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/century-of-growth/1790-1900-century-of-growth-part-1.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=[[U.S. Bureau of the Census]]|chapter=Chapter XI. NATIONALITY AS INDICATED BY NAMES OF HEADS OF FAMILIES REPORTED AT THE FIRST CENSUS|pages=116–124|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910221959/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/century-of-growth/1790-1900-century-of-growth-part-1.pdf|archive-date=September 10, 2022|access-date=September 16, 2022}}</ref> When CPG was produced in 1909, the concept of independent [[Ireland]] did not even exist. CPG made no attempt to further classify its estimated 1.9% Irish population to distinguish [[Celts (modern)|Celtic]] [[Irish Catholics]] of [[Gaelic Ireland]], who in 1922 formed the independent [[Irish Free State]], from the [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]] descendants of [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]] and [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] of the [[Plantation of Ulster]], which became [[Northern Ireland]] and remained part of the [[United Kingdom]]. Unlike in 1909, the undercount of other [[Old Stock Americans|colonial stock]] populations like [[German Americans]] and [[Irish Americans]] would now have real contemporary policy consequences. In 1927, proposed immigration quotas based on CPG figures were rejected by the President's Committee chaired by the [[United States Secretary of State|Secretaries of State]], [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Commerce]], and [[United States Secretary of Labor|Labor]], with the President reporting to Congress "the statistical and historical information available raises grave doubts as to the whole value of these computations as the basis for the purposes intended."<ref name="ACLS1929" />

Among further criticisms of ''A Century of Population Growth'' figures:
* CPG failed to account for [[Anglicisation of names]], assuming any surname that could be English was actually English
* CPG failed to consider first names even when obviously foreign, assuming anyone with a surname that could be English was actually English
* CPG failed to consider regional variation in ethnic settlement e.g. surname ''Root'' could be assumed English in [[Vermont]] (less than 1% German), but more commonly a variant of German ''Roth'' in states with large [[German Americans|German American]] populations like populous [[Pennsylvania]] (home to more [[Germans]] than the entire population of Vermont)
* CPG started by classifying all names as Scotch, Irish, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, or other. All remaining names which could not be classed with one of the 6 other listed nationalities, nor identified by the Census clerk as too exotic to be English, were assumed to be English
* CPG classification was an unscientific process by Census clerks with no training in history, genealogy, or linguistics, nor were scholars in those fields consulted
* CPG estimates were produced by a linear process with no checks on potential errors nor opportunity for peer review or scholarly revision once an individual clerk had assigned a name to a nationality

Concluding that CPG "had not been accepted by scholars as better than a first approximation of the truth", the [[United States Census Bureau|Census Bureau]] commissioned a more accurate academic analysis, collaborating with the [[American Council of Learned Societies]], and later published in the journal of the [[American Historical Association]]. The revised figures of the ''Report of the Committee on Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States'' put the 1790 population at 60.1% [[English Americans|English]] (incl. [[Welsh Americans|Welsh]]), 8.1% [[Scottish Americans|Scotch]], 5.9% [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch Irish]] ([[Ulster]]), 3.6% [[Irish Americans|Irish]] ([[Irish Free State|Free State]]), 8.6% [[German Americans|German]], 3.1% [[Dutch Americans|Dutch]], 2.3% [[French Americans|French]], 0.7% [[Swedish Americans|Swedish]] (incl. [[Finnish Americans|Finnish]]), 0.8% [[Spanish Americans|Spanish]], and 6.8% unassigned, later distributed to fit the reshaped political geography of 1920s [[Europe]]. The proportional national divisions of [[European Americans]] of colonial people in 1790 was applied to the descendent population of 1920 to complete computations in time for the national origins formula quotas to take effect in 1929.<ref name="ACLS1929">{{cite book|author=American Council of Learned Societies. Committee on Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States|date=1932|title=Report of the Committee on Linguistic and National Stocks in the Population of the United States|publisher=[[U.S. Government Printing Office]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVA42JB6IYsC&pg=PA101|author-link=American Council of Learned Societies|oclc=1086749050}}</ref><ref name="trends" />

=== White Americans by national origin in 1920 ===
The National Origins Formula was a unique computation (not comparable with e.g. self-reported [[American ancestries|ancestries]] in the decennial [[United States census|U.S. Census]] or annual [[American Community Survey]]), which sought to determine the degree of 'blood' each national origin had contributed to the total white American population (in scientific terms, the [[genetic genealogy|genetic]] contribution of each nation), acknowledging the reality of centuries of intermarriage among [[European Americans]] of different ethnicities from all corners of [[Europe]] since the earliest settlements of the New World. The numbers do not purport to represent 'pure' discrete individuals of monoethnic backgrounds. Rather the figures reflect how the population would have naturally grown ''if'' each succeeding generation from the 1790 [[Old Stock Americans|colonial stock]] had only mated [[endogamy|endogamously]] among their own co-ethnics in the subsequent 130 years, estimating the diffusion of 'blood' among [[white Americans]] as a collective whole. In reality, [[exogamy]] was common with many white Americans being of mixed European ancestries (measuring 'blood' in modern parlance akin to [[genealogical DNA test|DNA test results]] measuring an individual's ancestral makeup, applied to a population.{{efn|For example, 1 'person' in the count of British colonial stock descent in 1920 could in actuality be 4 White Americans who each shared 1 grandparent descended purely from 1790 British colonial stock, thus making each of the 4 individuals ¼ British colonial stock by genetic ancestry; the 'blood' did not disappear from the population but was dispersed at the individual level. The numbers presented could therefore be better understood as units of 'blood' inherited from the different national stocks flowing through the veins of the White American population.}})<ref name="trends" />
{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|- 
! colspan=1 rowspan=3 style="text-align:center; background-color:#C8E5EE;"|'''Country of origin'''||rowspan="2"  colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|'''Total'''||rowspan="2"  colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|'''Colonial stock'''||rowspan="1"  colspan=8 style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|'''Postcolonial stock'''
|-
! rowspan="1"  colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|'''Total'''||rowspan="1"  colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|'''Immigrants'''||rowspan="1"  colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|'''{{abbr|Children of|Children of immigrants}}'''||rowspan="1"  colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|'''{{abbr|Grandchildren of|Grandchildren of immigrants and later generations}}'''
|-
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|#
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|%
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|#
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|%
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|#
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#C6E3EC;"|%
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|#
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|%
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|#
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|%
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|#
! style="text-align:center; background-color:#CEECF6;"|%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|First Austrian Republic|name=Austria}}
|align="right"|{{nts|843,051}}
|align="right"|0.89%
|align="right"|{{nts|14,110}}
|align="right"|0.03%
|align="right"|{{nts|828,951}}
|align="right"|1.55%
|align="right"|{{nts|305,657}}
|align="right"|2.23%
|align="right"|{{nts|414,794}}
|align="right"|2.16%
|align="right"|{{nts|108,500}}
|align="right"|0.53%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Belgium}}
|align="right"|{{nts|778,328}}
|align="right"|0.82%
|align="right"|{{nts|602,300}}
|align="right"|1.46%
|align="right"|{{nts|176,028}}
|align="right"|0.33%
|align="right"|{{nts|62,686}}
|align="right"|0.46%
|align="right"|{{nts|62,042}}
|align="right"|0.32%
|align="right"|{{nts|51,300}}
|align="right"|0.25%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|First Czechoslovak Republic|name=Czechoslovakia}}
|align="right"|{{nts|1,715,128}}
|align="right"|1.81%
|align="right"|{{nts|54,700}}
|align="right"|0.13%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,660,428}}
|align="right"|3.10%
|align="right"|{{nts|559,895}}
|align="right"|4.08%
|align="right"|{{nts|903,933}}
|align="right"|4.71%
|align="right"|{{nts|196,600}}
|align="right"|0.95%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Denmark}}
|align="right"|{{nts|704,783}}
|align="right"|0.74%
|align="right"|{{nts|93,200}}
|align="right"|0.23%
|align="right"|{{nts|611,583}}
|align="right"|1.14%
|align="right"|{{nts|189,934}}
|align="right"|1.39%
|align="right"|{{nts|277,149}}
|align="right"|1.44%
|align="right"|{{nts|144,500}}
|align="right"|0.70%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Estonia}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|69,013}}
|align="right"|0.07%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|69,013}}
|align="right"|0.13%
|align="right"|{{nts|33,612}}
|align="right"|0.25%
|align="right"|{{nts|28,001}}
|align="right"|0.15%
|align="right"|{{nts|7,400}}
|align="right"|0.04%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Finland}}
|align="right"|{{nts|339,436}}
|align="right"|0.36%
|align="right"|{{nts|4,300}}
|align="right"|0.01%
|align="right"|{{nts|335,136}}
|align="right"|0.63%
|align="right"|{{nts|149,824}}
|align="right"|1.09%
|align="right"|{{nts|146,612}}
|align="right"|0.76%
|align="right"|{{nts|38,700}}
|align="right"|0.19%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|French Third Republic|name=France}}
|align="right"|{{nts|1,841,689}}
|align="right"|1.94%
|align="right"|{{nts|767,100}}
|align="right"|1.86%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,074,589}}
|align="right"|2.01%
|align="right"|{{nts|155,019}}
|align="right"|1.13%
|align="right"|{{nts|325,270}}
|align="right"|1.69%
|align="right"|{{nts|594,300}}
|align="right"|2.88%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Weimar Republic|name=Germany}}
|align="right"|{{nts|15,488,615}}
|align="right"|16.33%
|align="right"|{{nts|3,036,800}}
|align="right"|7.36%
|align="right"|{{nts|12,451,815}}
|align="right"|23.26%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,672,375}}
|align="right"|12.20%
|align="right"|{{nts|4,051,240}}
|align="right"|21.11%
|align="right"|{{nts|6,728,200}}
|align="right"|32.61%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Kingdom of Greece|name=Greece}}
|align="right"|{{nts|182,936}}
|align="right"|0.19%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|182,936}}
|align="right"|0.34%
|align="right"|{{nts|135,146}}
|align="right"|0.99%
|align="right"|{{nts|46,890}}
|align="right"|0.24%
|align="right"|{{nts|900}}
|align="right"|0.00%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946)||name=Hungary}}
|align="right"|{{nts|518,750}}
|align="right"|0.55%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|518,750}}
|align="right"|0.97%
|align="right"|{{nts|318,977}}
|align="right"|2.33%
|align="right"|{{nts|183,773}}
|align="right"|0.96%
|align="right"|{{nts|16,000}}
|align="right"|0.08%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Irish Republic|name=Ireland}}
|align="right"|{{nts|10,653,334}}
|align="right"|11.24%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,821,500}}
|align="right"|4.41%
|align="right"|{{nts|8,831,834}}
|align="right"|16.50%
|align="right"|{{nts|820,970}}
|align="right"|5.99%
|align="right"|{{nts|2,097,664}}
|align="right"|10.93%
|align="right"|{{nts|5,913,200}}
|align="right"|28.66%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Kingdom of Italy|name=Italy}}
|align="right"|{{nts|3,462,271}}
|align="right"|3.65%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|3,462,271}}
|align="right"|6.47%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,612,281}}
|align="right"|11.76%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,671,490}}
|align="right"|8.71%
|align="right"|{{nts|178,500}}
|align="right"|0.87%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Latvia}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|140,777}}
|align="right"|0.15%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|140,777}}
|align="right"|0.26%
|align="right"|{{nts|69,277}}
|align="right"|0.51%
|align="right"|{{nts|56,000}}
|align="right"|0.29%
|align="right"|{{nts|15,500}}
|align="right"|0.08%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Lithuania}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|230,445}}
|align="right"|0.24%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|230,445}}
|align="right"|0.43%
|align="right"|{{nts|117,000}}
|align="right"|0.85%
|align="right"|{{nts|88,645}}
|align="right"|0.46%
|align="right"|{{nts|24,800}}
|align="right"|0.12%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Netherlands}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,881,359}}
|align="right"|1.98%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,366,800}}
|align="right"|3.31%
|align="right"|{{nts|514,559}}
|align="right"|0.96%
|align="right"|{{nts|133,478}}
|align="right"|0.97%
|align="right"|{{nts|205,381}}
|align="right"|1.07%
|align="right"|{{nts|175,700}}
|align="right"|0.85%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Norway}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,418,592}}
|align="right"|1.50%
|align="right"|{{nts|75,200}}
|align="right"|0.18%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,343,392}}
|align="right"|2.51%
|align="right"|{{nts|363,862}}
|align="right"|2.65%
|align="right"|{{nts|597,130}}
|align="right"|3.11%
|align="right"|{{nts|382,400}}
|align="right"|1.85%
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|Ottoman Empire}}
| align="right" |{{nts|134,756}}
| align="right" |0.14%
| align="right" |{{nts|-}}
| align="right" | -
| align="right" |{{nts|134,756}}
| align="right" |0.25%
| align="right" |{{nts|102,669}}
| align="right" |0.75%
| align="right" |{{nts|31,487}}
| align="right" |0.16%
| align="right" |{{nts|600}}
| align="right" |0.00%
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|Second Polish Republic|name=Poland}}
| align="right" |{{nts|3,892,796}}
| align="right" |4.11%
| align="right" |{{nts|8,600}}
| align="right" |0.02%
| align="right" |{{nts|3,884,196}}
| align="right" |7.26%
| align="right" |{{nts|1,814,426}}
| align="right" |13.23%
| align="right" |{{nts|1,779,570}}
| align="right" |9.27%
| align="right" |{{nts|290,200}}
| align="right" |1.41%
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|First Portuguese Republic|name=Portugal}}
| align="right" |{{nts|262,804}}
| align="right" |0.28%
| align="right" |{{nts|23,700}}
| align="right" |0.06%
| align="right" |{{nts|239,104}}
| align="right" |0.45%
| align="right" |{{nts|104,088}}
| align="right" |0.76%
| align="right" |{{nts|105,416}}
| align="right" |0.55%
| align="right" |{{nts|29,600}}
| align="right" |0.14%
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}
| align="right" |{{nts|175,697}}
| align="right" |0.19%
| align="right" |{{nts|-}}
| align="right" | -
| align="right" |{{nts|175,697}}
| align="right" |0.33%
| align="right" |{{nts|88,942}}
| align="right" |0.65%
| align="right" |{{nts|83,755}}
| align="right" |0.44%
| align="right" |{{nts|3,000}}
| align="right" |0.02%
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|Russian SFSR|1918|name=Russia}}
| align="right" |{{nts|1,660,954}}
| align="right" |1.75%
| align="right" |{{nts|4,300}}
| align="right" |0.01%
| align="right" |{{nts|1,656,654}}
| align="right" |3.09%
| align="right" |{{nts|767,324}}
| align="right" |5.60%
| align="right" |{{nts|762,130}}
| align="right" |3.97%
| align="right" |{{nts|127,200}}
| align="right" |0.62%
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|Restoration (Spain)|name=Spain}} 
| align="right" |{{nts|150,258}}
| align="right" |0.16%
| align="right" |{{nts|38,400}}
| align="right" |0.09%
| align="right" |{{nts|111,858}}
| align="right" |0.21%
| align="right" |{{nts|50,027}}
| align="right" |0.36%
| align="right" |{{nts|24,531}}
| align="right" |0.13%
| align="right" |{{nts|37,300}}
| align="right" |0.18%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Sweden}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,977,234}}
|align="right"|2.09%
|align="right"|{{nts|217,100}}
|align="right"|0.53%
|align="right"|{{nts|1,760,134}}
|align="right"|3.29%
|align="right"|{{nts|625,580}}
|align="right"|4.56%
|align="right"|{{nts|774,854}}
|align="right"|4.04%
|align="right"|{{nts|359,700}}
|align="right"|1.74%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Switzerland}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,018,706}}
|align="right"|1.07%
|align="right"|{{nts|388,900}}
|align="right"|0.94%
|align="right"|{{nts|629,806}}
|align="right"|1.18%
|align="right"|{{nts|118,659}}
|align="right"|0.87%
|align="right"|{{nts|203,547}}
|align="right"|1.06%
|align="right"|{{nts|307,600}}
|align="right"|1.49%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagcountry|Mandate of Syria}} & {{Flag|Greater Lebanon|name=Lebanon}}
|align="right"|{{nts|73,442}}
|align="right"|0.08%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|73,442}}
|align="right"|0.14%
|align="right"|{{nts|42,039}}
|align="right"|0.31%
|align="right"|{{nts|31,403}}
|align="right"|0.16%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|-
| border="1" |{{flag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|name=United Kingdom}}
| align="right" |{{nts|39,216,333}}
| align="right" |41.36%
| align="right" |{{nts|31,803,900}}
| align="right" |77.02%
| align="right" |{{nts|7,412,433}}
| align="right" |13.85%
| align="right" |{{nts|1,365,314}}
| align="right" |9.96%
| align="right" |{{nts|2,308,419}}
| align="right" |12.03%
| align="right" |{{nts|3,738,700}}
| align="right" |18.12%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}
|align="right"|{{nts|504,203}}
|align="right"|0.53%
|align="right"|{{nts|-}}
|align="right"|-
|align="right"|{{nts|504,203}}
|align="right"|0.94%
|align="right"|{{nts|220,668}}
|align="right"|1.61%
|align="right"|{{nts|265,735}}
|align="right"|1.38%
|align="right"|{{nts|17,800}}
|align="right"|0.09%
|-
|border = "1"|Other Countries
|align="right"|{{nts|170,868}}
|align="right"|0.18%
|align="right"|{{nts|3,500}}
|align="right"|0.01%
|align="right"|{{nts|167,368}}
|align="right"|0.31%
|align="right"|{{nts|71,553}}
|align="right"|0.52%
|align="right"|{{nts|93,815}}
|align="right"|0.49%
|align="right"|{{nts|2,000}}
|align="right"|0.01%
|- bgcolor="#90D3DB"
|border = "1"|'''All Quota Countries''' 
|align="right"|'''{{nts|89,506,558}}'''
|align="right"|'''94.40%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|40,324,400}}'''
|align="right"|'''45.05%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|49,182,158}}'''
|align="right"|'''54.95%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|12,071,282}}'''
|align="right"|'''13.49%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|17,620,676}}'''
|align="right"|'''19.69%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|19,490,200}}'''
|align="right"|'''21.78%'''
|- bgcolor="#ECECEC"
|border = "1"|''Nonquota Countries'' 
|align="right"|''{{nts|5,314,357}}''
|align="right"|''5.60%''
|align="right"|''{{nts|964,170}}''
|align="right"|''2.34%''
|align="right"|''{{nts|4,350,187}}''
|align="right"|''8.13%''
|align="right"|''{{nts|1,641,472}}''
|align="right"|''11.97%''
|align="right"|''{{nts|1,569,696}}''
|align="right"|''8.18%''
|align="right"|''{{nts|1,139,019}}''
|align="right"|''5.52%''
|- class="sortbottom" bgcolor="lightgrey"
|border = "1"|'''1920 {{flag|USA|1912}} Total''' 
|align="right"|'''{{nts|94,820,915}}'''
|align="right"|'''100.00%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|41,288,570}}'''
|align="right"|'''43.54%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|53,532,345}}'''
|align="right"|'''56.46%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|13,712,754}}'''
|align="right"|'''14.46%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|19,190,372}}'''
|align="right"|'''20.24%'''
|align="right"|'''{{nts|20,629,219}}'''
|align="right"|'''21.76%'''
|}
{{notelist}}

== Quota calculation formula ==
The national origins formula prescribed by the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], effective 1929, capped total annual quota immigration from outside the Western Hemisphere at 150,000. The quota for each country was to be computed as a fraction of 150,000 in a ratio proportional to the number of U.S. inhabitants of each national origin as a share of total inhabitants in 1920, with a minimum quota of 100. Due to the minimum rounding up the quotas for all countries that would not have otherwise reached 100, in practice the annual global quota total was slightly more than 150,000 (in 1930 totaling 153,714), but the formula calculation still used the fixed number 150,000. {{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The total number of U.S. inhabitants in 1920 with national origins in quota countries was 89,506,558 so the national origins formula ''f'' expressed mathematically as {{math|''f'' {{=}} {{sfrac|''n''|89,506,558}} {{=}} {{sfrac|''q''|150,000}}}}, where ''n'' is the number of inhabitants of any given national origin and ''q'' is the quota, hence to convert ''n'' into ''q'' required multiplication of ''n'' by {{math| {{sfrac|150,000|89,506,558}} {{=}} 0.001675854857}}.

For example, the number of U.S. inhabitants in 1920 who were derived from the [[United Kingdom]] was fixed at 39,216,333 so the formula {{math|''f'' {{=}} {{sfrac|39,216,333|89,506,558}} {{=}} {{sfrac|''q''|150,000}}}}. The formula could thus be solved for ''q'' as: 
* {{math|39,216,333 × 0.001675854857 {{=}} 65720.882 ≈ 65,721}}.
Or the formula could be solved to compute the quota by converting the fraction for the national origin into decimal form, then multiplying to take the equivalent percentage share of 150,000: 
* {{math|{{sfrac|39,216,333|89,506,558}} {{=}}  0.4381392143 × 150,000 {{=}} 65720.882 ≈ 65,721}}.

The table below lists the number of U.S. inhabitants of each national origin in 1920, and their fractional share of the total quota population expressed in percentage form to three decimal points.

The revised national origins formula prescribed by the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952]], effective 1953, was simplified to multiply ''n'' by {{sfrac|1|6}} of 1% (equivalent to decimal 0.00166666666̅) to arrive at roughly equivalent (but slightly reduced) quotas by a much streamlined process e.g.
* {{math|39,216,333 × {{sfrac|1|6}} {{=}} 6536055.5 × 1% {{=}} 65360.555 ≈ 65,361}}.
 
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!  style="text-align:center; background-color:#9dbec3;"|'''Country of origin'''
!  style="text-align:center; background-color:#9dbec3;"|'''Population count'''
!  style="text-align:center; background-color:#9dbec3;"|'''Percentage share'''
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Austria}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|843,051}}
|align="right"|0.942%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Belgium}}
|align="right"|{{nts|778,328}}
|align="right"|0.869%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}
|align="right"|{{nts|1,715,128}}
|align="right"|1.916%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Denmark}}
|align="right"|{{nts|704,783}}
|align="right"|0.788%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Estonia}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|69,013}}
|align="right"|0.077%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Finland}}
|align="right"|{{nts|339,436}}
|align="right"|0.379%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|France}}
|align="right"|{{nts|1,841,689}}
|align="right"|2.058%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Germany}}
|align="right"|{{nts|15,488,615}}
|align="right"|17.305%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Greece|royal}}
|align="right"|{{nts|182,936}}
|align="right"|0.204%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Hungary|1920}}
|align="right"|{{nts|518,750}}
|align="right"|0.580%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Ireland}}
|align="right"|{{nts|10,653,334}}
|align="right"|11.902%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Italy|1861}}
|align="right"|{{nts|3,462,271}}
|align="right"|3.868%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Latvia}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|140,777}}
|align="right"|0.158%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Lithuania}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|230,445}}
|align="right"|0.257%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Netherlands}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,881,359}}
|align="right"|2.102%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Norway}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,418,592}}
|align="right"|1.585%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Poland}}
|align="right"|{{nts|3,892,796}}
|align="right"|4.349%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Portugal}}
|align="right"|{{nts|262,804}}
|align="right"|0.294%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Romania}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|175,697}}
|align="right"|0.197%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Russia|1914}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,660,954}}
|align="right"|1.856%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Spain}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|150,258}}
|align="right"|0.168%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Sweden}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,977,234}}
|align="right"|2.209%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Switzerland}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|1,018,706}}
|align="right"|1.138%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagcountry|Mandate of Syria}} / {{flag|Lebanon|1920}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|73,442}}
|align="right"|0.082%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Turkey}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|134,756}}
|align="right"|0.151%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|United Kingdom}} 
|align="right"|{{nts|39,216,333}}
|align="right"|43.814%
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}
|align="right"|{{nts|504,203}}
|align="right"|0.563%
|- class="sortbottom" bgcolor="lightgrey"
|border = "1"|'''1920 {{flag|USA|1912}} Total''' 
|align="right"|'''{{nts|89,506,558}}'''
|align="right"|'''100.000%'''
|}

Under the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], quotas were temporarily retained, but all unused quota spots each year were pooled and made available to other countries effective December 1, 1965. The National Origins Formula fully ended on July 1, 1968, replaced by simple broad numerical limitations of 120,000 from the [[Western Hemisphere]] and 170,000 from the [[Eastern Hemisphere]], with no more than 20,000 from any one country, limits in place until the [[Immigration Act of 1990]].<ref name="statabstract1966" /><ref name="McKee">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrf_HrCTXdgC&q=ethnic%20groups%20united%20states%201775&pg=PA22|title=Ethnicity in Contemporary America: A Geographical Appraisal|first=Jesse O.|last=McKee|date=2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Lanham, MD|access-date=September 22, 2022|pages=19–37|via=Google Books|isbn=9780742500341|oclc=42968100}}</ref>

== Quotas by country under successive laws ==
Listed below are historical quotas on immigration from the [[Eastern Hemisphere]], by country, as applied in given fiscal years ending June 30, calculated according to successive immigration laws and revisions from the [[Emergency Quota Act]] of 1921 to the final quota year of 1965. The 1922 and 1925 systems based on dated census records of the foreign-born population were intended as temporary measures; the full National Origins Formula based on the [[1920 United States census|1920 Census]] of the U.S. population took effect on July 1, 1929.<ref name="statabstract1922">{{cite journal|date=July 1923|title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1922.|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1923/compendia/statab/45ed/1922-03.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce|pages=100–101|edition=45th|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329121443/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1923/compendia/statab/45ed/1922-03.pdf|archive-date=March 29, 2021|access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref><ref name="statabstract1924">{{cite journal|date=July 1925|title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1924.|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1925/compendia/statab/47ed/1924-02.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce|page=83|edition=47th|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328004741/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1925/compendia/statab/47ed/1924-02.pdf|archive-date=March 28, 2021|access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref><ref name="statabstract1930" /><ref name="statabstract1931" /><ref name="statabstract1966">{{cite journal|date=July 1966|title=Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1966.| journal=Statistical Abstract of the United States ...: Finance, Coinage, Commerce, Immigration, Shipping, the Postal Service, Population, Railroads, Agriculture, Coal and Iron |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1966/compendia/statab/87ed/1966-02.pdf|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Bureau of the Census|pages=89–93|lccn=04-018089|issn=0081-4741|oclc=781377180|edition=87th|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328113257/https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1966/compendia/statab/87ed/1966-02.pdf|archive-date=March 28, 2021|access-date=August 9, 2021}}</ref><ref name="ABA1924">{{cite journal|date=July 1924|journal=American Bar Association Journal|volume=10|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25709038|publisher=American Bar Association|pages=490–492|last=Beaman|first=Middleton|issue=7|title=CURRENT LEGISLATION: The Immigration Act of 1924.| jstor=25709038 |access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref> 
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Annual National Quota
!colspan="2"|[[Emergency Quota Act|Act of 1921]]||colspan="4"|[[Immigration Act of 1924|Act of 1924]]||colspan="2"|[[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952|Act of 1952]]
|-
!1922{{efn|Quota per country limited to 3% of the number of foreign-born persons of that nationality residing in the U.S. in the 1910 census (FY 1922-1924)}}
!%
!1925{{efn|Quota per country limited to 2% of the number of foreign-born persons of that nationality residing in the U.S. in the 1890 census (FY 1925-1929)}}
!%
!1930{{efn|Quota per nationality limited to a percentage share of 150,000 in a ratio proportional to the number of U.S. inhabitants of that national origin as a share of all U.S. inhabitants in the 1920 census (FY 1930-1952)}}
!%
!1965{{efn|Quota per nationality limited to one-sixth of 1% of the number of U.S. inhabitants of that national origin in the 1920 census (FY 1953-1965)}}
!%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Albania|1920}}
| 288
| 0.08%
| 100
| 0.06%
| 100
| 0.07%
| 100
| 0.06%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Armenia}}
| 230
| 0.06%
| 124
| 0.08%
| 100
| 0.07%
| 100
| 0.06%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Austria}} 
| 7,451
| 2.08%
| 785
| 0.48%
| 1,413
| 0.92%
| 1,405
| 0.89%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Belgium}}
| 1,563
| 0.44%
| 512
| 0.31%
| 1,304
| 0.85%
| 1,297
| 0.82%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Bulgaria}}
| 302
| 0.08%
| 100
| 0.06%
| 100
| 0.07%
| 100
| 0.06%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Czechoslovakia}}
| 14,357
| 4.01%
| 3,073
| 1.87%
| 2,874
| 1.87%
| 2,859
| 1.80%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Danzig}}
| 301
| 0.08%
| 228
| 0.14%
| 100
| 0.07%
|  
| 
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Denmark}} 
| 5,619
| 1.57%
| 2,789
| 1.69%
| 1,181
| 0.77%
| 1,175
| 0.74%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Estonia}}
| 1,348
| 0.38%
| 124
| 0.08%
| 116
| 0.08%
| 115
| 0.07%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Finland}}
| 3,921
| 1.10%
| 471
| 0.29%
| 569
| 0.37%
| 566
| 0.36%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Fiume}}
| 71
| 0.02%
|  
|  
|  
|  
| 
|  
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|France}}
| 5,729
| 1.60%
| 3,954
| 2.40%
| 3,086
| 2.01%
| 3,069
| 1.94%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Germany}} 
| 67,607
| 18.90%
| 51,227
| 31.11%
| 25,957
| 16.89%
| 25,814
| 16.28%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Greece|old}}
| 3,294
| 0.92%
| 100
| 0.06%
| 307
| 0.20%
| 308
| 0.19%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Hungary|1920}}
| 5,638
| 1.58%
| 473
| 0.29%
| 869
| 0.57%
| 865
| 0.55%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Iceland|1918}}
| 75
| 0.02% 
| 100
| 0.06%
| 100
| 0.07%
| 100
| 0.06%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Ireland}} 
| {{efn|name=uk|From 1921 to 1924, quota for the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] encompassed all of Ireland; after 1925, only [[Northern Ireland]], with a separate quota created for the [[Irish Free State]]}}
|
| 28,567
| 17.35%
| 17,853
| 11.61%
| 17,756
| 11.20%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Italy|1861}}
| 42,057
| 11.75%
| 3,854
| 2.34%
| 5,802
| 3.77%
| 5,666
| 3.57%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Latvia}} 
| 1,540
| 0.43%
| 142
| 0.09% 
| 236
| 0.15%
| 235
| 0.15%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Lithuania}} 
| 2,460
| 0.69%
| 344
| 0.21% 
| 386
| 0.25%
| 384
| 0.24%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Luxembourg}}
| 92
| 0.03%
| 100
| 0.06%
| 100
| 0.07%
| 100
| 0.06%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Netherlands}}
| 3,607
| 1.01%
| 1,648
| 1.00%
| 3,153
| 2.05%
| 3,136
| 1.98% 
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Norway}} 
| 12,202
| 3.41%
| 6,453
| 3.92% 
| 2,377
| 1.55%
| 2,364
| 1.49%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Poland}} 
| 31,146
| 8.70%
| 5,982
| 3.63% 
| 6,524
| 4.24%
| 6,488
| 4.09%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Portugal}} 
| 2,465
| 0.69%
| 503
| 0.31% 
| 440
| 0.29%
| 438
| 0.28%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Romania}} 
| 7,419
| 2.07%
| 603
| 0.37% 
| 295
| 0.19%
| 289
| 0.18%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Russia|1954}} / {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}} {{efn|[[U.S.S.R.]] excluding regions falling under the [[Asiatic Barred Zone]] while in effect}} 
| 24,405
| 6.82%
| 2,248
| 1.37% 
| 2,784
| 1.81%
| 2,697
| 1.70%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Spain}} 
| 912
| 0.25%
| 131
| 0.08% 
| 252
| 0.16%
| 250
| 0.16%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Sweden}} 
| 20,042
| 5.60%
| 9,561
| 5.81% 
| 3,314
| 2.16%
| 3,295
| 2.08%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Switzerland}} 
| 3,752
| 1.05%
| 2,081
| 1.26% 
| 1,707
| 1.11%
| 1,698
| 1.07%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Turkey}} 
| 2,388
| 0.67%
| 100
| 0.06% 
| 226
| 0.15%
| 225
| 0.14%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|United Kingdom}} {{efn|name=uk}} 
| 77,342
| 21.62%
| 34,007 
| 20.65% 
| 65,721
| 42.76%
| 65,361
| 41.22%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Yugoslavia}} 
| 6,426
| 1.80%
| 671
| 0.41% 
| 845
| 0.55%
| 942
| 0.59%
|-
| align="left"|{{flag|Australia}} and {{flag|New Zealand}} 
| 359
| 0.10%
| 221
| 0.13% 
| 200
| 0.13%
| 700
| 0.44%
|-
| align="left"|Total from [[Europe]]
| 356,135
| 99.53%
| 161,546
| 98.10%
| 150,591
| 97.97%
| 149,697
| 94.41%
|-
| align="left"|Total from [[Asia]] 
| 1,066
| 0.30%
| 1,300
| 0.79% 
| 1,323
| 0.86%
| 3,690
| 2.33%
|-
| align="left"|Total from [[Africa]]
| 122
| 0.03%
| 1,200
| 0.73% 
| 1,200
| 0.78%
| 4,274
| 2.70%
|-
| align="left"|'''Total from all Countries'''
| '''357,803'''
| '''100.00%'''
| '''164,667'''
| '''100.00%'''
| '''153,714'''
| '''100.00%'''
| '''158,561'''
| '''100.00%'''
|-
|}
{{notelist}}

==Relaxation and abolition==
The [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952]] retained but relaxed the National Origins Formula. It modified the ratios to be based on the 1920 census and eliminated racial restrictions, but retained restrictions by national origin. President [[Harry Truman]] vetoed it because of its continued use of national quotas, but the  Act was passed over his veto. The quotas were in addition to 600,000 refugees admitted from Europe after World War II.<ref>David M. Reimers, ''Unwelcome Strangers'' (1998), 26</ref>

The National Origins Formula was abolished by the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], which introduced a system with one quota for the Western Hemisphere, and one for the Eastern Hemisphere. It marked a significant change in American immigration policy.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Dillingham Commission]]
* [[Immigration policy]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* Michael Lemay and Elliott Robert Barkan, eds., ''U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History'' Greenwood Press, 1999
* John Lescott-Leszczynski, ''The History of U.S. Ethnic Policy and Its Impact on European Ethnics'' Westview Press, 1984

[[Category:Anti-Asian sentiment in the United States]]
[[Category:History of immigration to the United States]]
[[Category:Immigration to the United States]]
[[Category:United States federal immigration and nationality legislation]]