Croatian Americans

Immigration Patterns

A significant number of Croats began arriving in the United States about a century ago. Many of these immigrants were single men from the various regions of Croatia (Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, Bosnia-Herzegovina) who worked as sailors, merchants, craftsmen, and missionaries. These men arrived from Adriatic ports to North American trading centers such as New Orleans and San Francisco. There, they found a climate similar to their homelands of the Adriatic and Mediterranean regions. Some 16,000 to 20,000 Croatians from the region of Dalmatia had begun to make the United States their home in the 1860s.

The largest wave, bringing an estimated 400,000, came between the years of 1890 and 1914. Many were drawn to the United States because they heard about the gold rush. Others migrated because of work opportunities due to the expansion of copper and coal mining in other states. This mass exodus to the United States prompted Croatian authorities to issue regulations and ordinances to curb migration; however, it was unsuccessful due to lack of government support.

During the years before and after World War I, the immigrants who came to the United States were male, landless peasants, those affected by overpopulation, displaced merchant seamen, men escaping military [Page 348]conscription, and people fleeing political oppression. Many were illiterate, which left them without the skills needed to work in an industrial economy. As a result, working as unskilled laborers was their only choice. However, by living in boardinghouses or in cooperative households, many were able to save money and return to their homelands to buy land and property. A return migration back to Croatia was popular during the years between 1899 and 1943. The remainder of the immigrants settled to make the United States their permanent home.

The next wave of Croatian immigration occurred during the late 1940s and early 1950s, when the communist revolution took place in Yugoslavia in 1945. In the following decades, Croatians migrated to the United States because they were attracted by the opportunity to better themselves financially.

Contemporary Pattern

Of those Croatian-born present here in 2000, only 5.9% had entered the country prior to 2000. In recent years, people from Croatia have sought permanent residency and refugee status and completed the naturalization process to become citizens. From 1997 through 2006, about 1,500 Croatians immigrated to the United States annually. An additional 6,000 refugees arrived between the years of 1999 and 2005. Since 1997, about 700 Croatian Americans have become naturalized citizens annually.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, there were 261,680 people of Croatian national origin in the United States in 2005. In terms of geographic distribution, the top five states were Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Illinois, and New York. According to the 2000 census, 43.9% spoke English less than “very well.” Their median family income was $57,339, compared with $50,890 for the nation as a whole.

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