Tomorrow evening, the Republican candidates will meet for their fifth debate (#GopDebate) in Las Vegas, Nevada — a state that has become an increasingly popular destination for immigrants. Between 2000 and 2013, the foreign-born population in the state grew by almost 64 percent. According to 2013 data, nearly one in five Nevada residents was foreign-born, a figure that is higher than the national average.
Before tuning in to watch the candidates duke it out in the desert, check out these facts on Nevada’s immigrant population and their economic contributions to the state:
Business
20.7 percent of business owners in Nevada are immigrants. These businesses generate 16.8 percent of the state’s total business income: $1.1 billion each year.
Manufacturing
Immigrants who arrived in Nevada between 2000 and 2010 created or preserved 8,845 manufacturing jobs across the state.
Contributions to entitlement programs
Foreign-born Hispanics in Nevada contributed $723 million to Social Security and $169 million to Medicare in 2013.
Healthcare
In 2012, 28.3 percent of Nevada’s physicians had graduated from an international medical school. These foreign-born doctors are helping to address Nevada’s projected shortage of medical professionals—currently the state ranks 45th in the nation in the number of doctors per 100,000 residents.
These figures are just a sampling of the ways in which immigrants positively impact Nevada’s economy and society. Learn more about immigration in Nevada and the rest of the states in our interactive map.
