Brazil: Immigrant Stories
Brazilian Immigrants in the United States
According to the 2019–2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year dataset, an estimated 599,961 Brazilian immigrants live in the United States, representing 1.3 percent of the total immigrant population of 46,134,671. The top three states with the largest percentage of Brazilian immigrants as a percentage of the total foreign-born population include Massachusetts (8.3%), Connecticut (4.7%), and New Hampshire (3.7%).
The median age among Brazilian immigrants living in the United States is 39 years old and the median year of immigration to the United States for immigrants from Brazil is 2010. More than one-third (35%) of Brazilian immigrants are naturalized U.S. citizens and 58 percent of Brazilian immigrants are proficient in English. Brazilian immigrants have high employment rates (95%), and 24 percent are self-employed or business owners.
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LUIZ THOMAZ DACOSTA is a winner of the Immigrant Learning Center’s 2025 Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Award. He was born in the state of Paraná in Brazil in 1971. He grew up in a modest family as the youngest of four children. His father was a pastor, and his mother a teacher. Their strong work ethic and Christian values shaped his upbringing. As a teenager, Mr. DaCosta moved to Curitiba, Paraná’s state capital, where he began working early in life. He held multiple jobs, including running errands for an accounting firm in the mornings and for a bank in the afternoons. At night, he attended high school. Due to the demanding schedule, heeventually dropped out, but later completed an intensive course equivalent to a high school diploma, similar to a GED in the United States.