New Americans in Vermont

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Green Mountain State (Updated January 2012)

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Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Vermont’s population and electorate.

• The foreign-born share of Vermont’s population rose from 3.1% in 1990 to 4.4% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Vermont was home to 27,560 immigrants in 2010.

• 60.2% of immigrants (or 16,594 people) in Vermont were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2010—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 4.3% (or 14,846) of registered voters in Vermont were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2008 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates.

Roughly 2.8% of Vermonters are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Vermont’s population grew from 0.7% in 1990, to 0.9% in 2000, to 1.5% (or 9,208 people) in 2010.  The Asian share of the population grew from 0.6% in 1990, to 0.9% in 2000, to 1.3% (or 7,947 people) in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• In Vermont, 87.8% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs to Vermont’s economy.

• The 2010 purchasing power of Latinos totaled $285.7 million—an increase of 524.3% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $193.5 million—an increase of 452.6% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

• Vermont’s 649 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $265.5 million and employed 2,084 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 470 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $184.9 million and employed 323 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.
  

Immigrants are important to Vermont’s economy as workers and taxpayers.

• Immigrants comprised 4.1% of the state’s workforce in 2008 (or 14,702 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised less than 0.5% of the state’s workforce (or fewer than 10,000 workers) in 2010, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• More than half of the milk produced in the state comes from the roughly 2,000 Hispanic migrant farm workers living and working in Vermont, according to a survey by the Vermont Farm Bureau.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Vermont, the state would lose $249.4 million in economic activity, $110.8 million in gross state product, and approximately 1,800 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.

Immigrants are important to Vermont’s economy as students.

• Vermont’s 1,017 foreign students contributed $34.1 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2009-2010 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
  

Immigrants excel educationally.

• 33.6% of Vermont’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had a bachelor’s or higher degree in 2009, compared to 33% of native-born persons age 25 and older.

• In Vermont, 95.8% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.

Published On: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 | Download File