During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the major immigrant groups who came to work in the state's growing industries were Irish, Italian, and French-Canadian. Significant numbers of British, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, and German immigrants also moved to Rhode Island. Between 1940 and 1970, however, 2,000 more people left the state than moved to it, and between 1970 and 1983 there was a net loss of about 42,000. From 1985 to 1990, there was a net gain from migration of nearly 34,000. Between 1990 and 1998, Rhode Island had a net loss of 64,000 in domestic migration and a net gain of 16,000 in international migration. In 1998, 1,976 foreign immigrants arrived in the state. Rhode Island's overall population decreased 1.5% between 1990 and 1998.
During the 1980s, the urban proportion of the population remained virtually unchanged, dropping from 87% to 86%. By 1996, the metropolitan population had reached 93.8%. In the period 1995–2000, 96,980 people moved into the state and 93,744 moved out, for a net gain of 3,236, many of whom were from Massachusetts.