Taxes and Spending Power
The contributions immigrants make as both taxpayers and consumers are indispensable to the U.S. economy. Nationally, immigrants earned $1.3 trillion in 2014 and contributed $105 billion in state and local taxes and almost $224 billion in federal taxes. This left them with nearly $927 billion in spending power, which they frequently used to purchase goods and services, stimulate local business activity, and create jobs in the broader U.S. economy.
KTAR: Report finds immigrants are key to Arizona’s economy
PHOENIX — A new report finds that more than 920,000 immigrants living in Arizona are critical to the state’s economic success. The report released Monday by the bipartisan group New American Economy estimates immigrants in Arizona made up 17 percent of Arizona’s labor force and had $21.4 billion in… Read More
Pork Industry Could Face Shutdowns Without Immigrant Labor
U.S. pork producers add $39 billion annually to the nation’s economy and support 550,000 jobs. But maintaining this output is a struggle, says the industry, due to critical labor shortages. Without a viable workforce, “production costs will continue to increase, leading to higher food prices for consumers,”… Read More
‘Imagine the Growth’ that Legalizing Immigrants Would Bring, Says Policy Analyst
“Immigrants have such great economic potential,” says Mexican-born economist and healthcare consultant Luis Arzaluz. “They come here, they learn the language — they buy cars — and they could contribute even more.” Why did he mention buying cars? Because Arzaluz has the automotive industry to thank for his U.S. citizenship. Read More
Pakistani Aid Worker is Citizen of the World but Calls Oregon Home
When Amarah Khan arrived at the Houston airport from Pakistan as a fresh-faced 23-year-old student, immigration officials detained and questioned her for five hours, she says. “You can imagine what a rude awakening this was for me. This was my first time on a plane, and I thought I was… Read More
A Stowaway’s Son Uses Business Acumen to Help New Jersey Elders
Dominican immigrant Jose Brito Bueno grew up in poverty but now runs WeCare, a domestic-care company with 213 employees. When he was just 10 years old, his father — leaving their home in Santo Domingo — stowed away in a cargo ship bound for the United States. He hid in… Read More
After Decade in U.S., Still No Visa for Successful Startup Founder
Chris Choi has a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree in investments and securities from Pace University. He also co-founded a growing company called Spryfit, a reward-based fitness app that uses cash prizes and other rewards to… Read More
In America, Rwandan Refugee Gains a Voice and Creates Jobs
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Rubens Mukunzi runs a Buffalo-based newspaper, where he writes, edits, and meets with advertisers. After a one-hour break for dinner, the Rwandan refugee starts his shift at a cleaning company, where he works until midnight. The hours are long, but Mukunzi… Read More
Councilwoman: Remember How Country Was Built
First-term City Councilwoman Diane Gibson entered New Mexico politics after a 28-year career at Sandia National Laboratories, where she worked as a prototype machinist and an environmental security and health coordinator. As a recent retiree, she entered public service to address poverty and help the city thrive economically. Gibson believes… Read More
Alabama Pastor: Immigrants ‘Will Give All They Have’
Raul Dominguez, the associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cullman, Alabama, has moved his family from Mexico to the United States three times to comply with visa regulations. Throughout, he has remained deeply committed to serving the faith community in his small, north-central Alabama town. “The call that… Read More
Louisiana Crawfish Industry Needs Foreign-Born Workers, Says Local Mayor
Sherbin Collette is the mayor of the Henderson, Louisiana, a small town in the heart of Louisiana crawfish country. He is a commercial fisherman who also serves on the Louisiana Seafood Marketing and Promotion Board. And he has deep concerns about the sustainability of the crawfish… Read More
Household Income of Immigrants
In 2014, more than 72 percent of foreign-born population in the United States was working-aged, compared to less than half of U.S.-born residents. This reality allowed immigrants to earn well over a trillion dollars of income in 2014—a greater amount than their portion of the U.S. population overall.
Tax Contributions
A notable portion of the income earned by immigrants each year funnels directly back to our government in the form of tax revenues. In some states, immigrants contribute more than one out of every four tax dollars paid by local residents each year—supporting taxpayer-funded services like public schools and police departments.
States Where Immigrants Contributed the Largest Share of Total Tax Revenues, 2014
Spending Power
Spending power is the disposable income left to households after deducting their annual tax contributions. The $9.3 billion in total spending power held by immigrant led households in 2014 allowed them to hold considerable power as consumers. By spending on goods and services, immigrants strengthen the U.S. economy and provide jobs to American workers as well as the businesses dependent upon paying customers.
Foreign-Born Population’s Amount and Share of Spending Power by State, 2014
Medicare and Social Security
Our Social Security and Medicare programs are already facing serious financial challenges—a pattern expected to worsen as large numbers of Baby Boomers retire and leave the workforce altogether. While the United States had roughly 16 workers paying into our entitlement programs for every one retiree in 1950, that number is projected to drop to just two workers for every retiree by 2035.1 Immigrants are already playing an important role supplementing our entitlement programs: One NAE study found that between 1996 and 2011 immigrants contributed $182.4 billion more to Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund—the core trust fund in the program—than was expended on their care.
Sources:
1 “10 Truths About America’s Entitlement Programs, Address by R. Bruce Josten Executive Vice President of Government Affairs U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, accessed September 21, 2016. Available online.
Bolstering the Housing Market
By purchasing homes in neighborhoods formerly in decline, immigrants in recent decades have had a positive impact on U.S. housing values overall. From 2000 to 2010, each of the 40 million immigrants in the United States added, on average, 11.6 cents to the value of a home in their local county. That seems small, but it adds up. In fact, it resulted in immigrants growing U.S. housing wealth by $3.7 trillion during that period.2 Immigrants are also expected to play a key role buying up homes as baby boomers downsize in the coming years: Almost 30 percent of American homeowners were older than age 65 in 2014.
Sources:
2 Jacob Vigdor, “Immigration and the Revival of American Cities,” New American Economy, 2013 Available online.
Immigrant Subgroups
Regardless of where the immigrants came from, they contribute a tremendous amount of money to the U.S. economy as taxpayers and consumers. In this section, we show the amount earned and contributed in taxes by different ethnic and national origin groups within the foreign-born population.
Taxes & Spending Power of Major Immigrant Subgroups
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Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
