Immigrants in Delaware

Delaware has a sizable community of immigrants, many of whom hail from Mexico. Nine percent of Delawareans were born in another country, while another 9 percent of residents are native-born U.S. citizens with at least one immigrant parent. Delaware benefits from the various ways immigrants participate in the economy and labor force, with foreign-born residents accounting for a quarter of the state’s workers in computer and math occupations and nearly a quarter of residents working in life, physical, and social science occupations. As neighbors, business owners, taxpayers, and workers, immigrants are an integral part of Delaware’s diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all.

One in 11 Delaware residents is an immigrant, while another 1 in 11 residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

• In 2018, 91,230 immigrants (foreign-born individuals) comprised 9 percent of the population.
• Delaware was home to 43,896 women, 40,310 men, and 7,024 children who were immigrants.
• The top countries of origin for immigrants were Mexico (15 percent of immigrants), India (11 percent), Guatemala (10 percent), China (8 percent), and Jamaica (4 percent).
• In 2018, 86,316 people in Delaware (9 percent of the state’s population) were native-born Americans who had at least one immigrant parent.

Nearly half of all immigrants in Delaware are naturalized U.S. citizens.

• 42,707 immigrants (47 percent) had naturalized as of 2018, and 14,260 immigrants were eligible to become naturalized U.S. citizens in 2017.
• More than four in five (83 percent) immigrants reported speaking English “well” or “very well.”

Immigrants in Delaware are distributed across the educational spectrum.

• Almost one-third (32 percent) of adult immigrants had a college degree or more education in 2018, while more than one-fourth (27 percent) had less than a high school diploma.

Thousands of U.S. citizens in Delaware live with at least one family member who is undocumented.

• 30,000 undocumented immigrants comprised 31 percent of the immigrant population and 3 percent of the total state population in 2016.
• 29,691 people in Delaware, including 14,851 U.S. citizens, lived with at least one undocumented family member between 2010 and 2014.
• During the same period, about 6 percent of children in the state were U.S. citizens living with at least one undocumented family member (11,875 children in total).

Delaware is home to over a thousand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

• 1,310 active DACA recipients lived in Delaware as of March 2020, while DACA has been granted to 1,532 people in total since 2012.
• As of 2019, 50 percent of DACA-eligible immigrants in Delaware had applied for DACA.
• Fewer than 1,000 residents of the state would satisfy all but the educational requirements for DACA, and fewer than 1,000 would become eligible as they grew older.

One in eight Delaware workers is an immigrant, making up a vital part of the state’s labor force.

• 59,245 immigrant workers comprised 12 percent of the labor force in 2018.

• Immigrant workers were most numerous in the following industries:

• The largest shares of immigrant workers were in the following industries:

Immigrants are an integral part of the Delaware workforce in a range of occupations.

• In 2018, immigrant workers were most numerous in the following occupation groups:

• The largest shares of immigrant workers were in the following occupation groups:

• Undocumented immigrants comprised 4 percent of Delaware’s workforce in 2016.

Immigrants in Delaware have contributed nearly a billion dollars in taxes.

• Immigrant-led households in the state paid $767.6 million in federal taxes and $228.1 million in state and local taxes in 2018.
• Undocumented immigrants in Delaware paid an estimated $77.2 million in federal taxes and $23.9 million in state and local taxes in 2018.
• Delaware DACA recipients and DACA-eligible individuals paid an estimated $2.2 million in state and local taxes in 2018.

As consumers, immigrants add billions of dollars to Delaware’s economy.

• Delaware residents in immigrant-led households had $2.7 billion in spending power (after-tax income) in 2018.

Immigrant entrepreneurs in Delaware generate tens of millions of dollars in business revenue.

• 7,944 immigrant business owners accounted for 16 percent of all self-employed Delaware residents in 2018 and generated $51.3 million in business income.
• In 2018, immigrants accounted for 14 percent of business owners in the Philadelphia/Camden/ Wilmington metropolitan area, which spans Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.