New Citizens

Hundreds of thousands of foreign-born residents of the United States gained their citizenship status in 2010, according to a new report on naturalizations by the Department of Homeland Security. Last year, 619,913 legal permanent residents of the United States became U.S. citizens. This number is well below the record high of more than 1 million in 2008.

Newly naturalized citizens had a median age of 39, the 53 percent majority were female, and two out of three were married. They had spent a median of six years in legal permanent resident status in the United States before becoming citizens. Mexico was the most common country of birth for newly naturalized citizens, but accounted for only 11 percent of total naturalizations in 2010.