Half of the immigrant population is grouped together in 13 departments. Immigrants are over-represented in urban areas, where job opportunities are greater (37% of them live in Île-de-France), and also in border areas. But since the 1990s, their share has increased in certain rural areas, with the arrival of retirees from northern Europe.
The population of descendants of immigrants is also more concentrated than the population as a whole: on average, in 2020 and 2021, 12 departments account for half of the descendants of immigrants. Many immigrants and descendants of Italian immigrants reside near the Italian border, as do Spanish immigrants and their descendants at the Spanish border, while descendants of Portuguese and African immigrants are more numerous in Île-de-France .