As job creators for local communities, many immigrant entrepreneurs face significant language barriers to access financial aid and other assistance as they struggle to recover from the recession caused by COVID-19.
Our analysis of data from the American Community Survey shows that more than one in five immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States, or nearly 773,000 people, had limited English proficiency in 2018. This includes almost 182,000 immigrant business owners who reported being unable to speak English at all and more than 591,000 who could not speak it well.
Figure 1: Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency Source: NAE analysis of 1-year sample from the 2018 American Community Survey
Number of Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Share of All Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Limited English Proficiency
772,925
23.8%
- Unable to speak English at all
181,776
5.6%
- Unable to speak English well
591,149
18.2%
Seven states have a higher than national average share of immigrant entrepreneurs with limited English proficiency, including Texas (35.2 percent), followed by Arizona, Louisiana, Tennessee, California, South Carolina, and Florida.
Figure 2: Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency in Select States Source: NAE analysis of 1-year sample from the 2018 American Community Survey
Share of Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency
National Average
23.8%
Texas
35.2%
Arizona
28.1%
Louisiana
27.8%
Tennessee
27.3%
California
27.3%
South Carolina
26.3%
Florida
25.7%
In the industries hit the hardest by COVID-19, more than one in three immigrant business owners in general services, including barber shops and laundry services, three in 10 in construction, and one in four in hospitality do not speak English well.
Figure 3: Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency in Select Industries Source: NAE analysis of 1-year sample from the 2018 American Community Survey
Number of Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency
Share of Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency
General Services
192,986
35.3%
Construction
176,924
30.8%
Hospitality
48,998
29.1%
Manufacturing
20,268
23.1%
Professional Services
132,261
21.1%
Retail Trade
48,888
19.7%
Language assistance is particularly in demand among Hispanic immigrant entrepreneurs, with more than one third (37.0 percent), or 567,500 people, having limited English proficiency, and Asian immigrant entrepreneurs, with nearly one in five (19.0 percent), or 140,500 people, not speaking English well.
Among immigrant entrepreneurs with limited English proficiency, Spanish is the top language spoken at home other than English (67.6 percent), followed by Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Portuguese.
Figure 4: Common Languages for Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency Source: NAE analysis of 1-year sample from the 2018 American Community Survey
Number of Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency
Share of Immigrant Entrepreneurs With Limited English Proficiency
Spanish
568,148
67.6%
Chinese
45,627
8.0%
Vietnamese
38,810
6.4%
Korean
30,500
5.0%
Portuguese
12,934
1.7%
These language barriers underscore the importance of targeted efforts for supporting immigrant entrepreneurs. To help local communities better understand the challenges facing immigrant entrepreneurs and promote an inclusive economic recovery, New American Economy has released a new toolkit, developed in partnership with Bloomberg Associates, the philanthropic consulting arm of Bloomberg Philanthropies. Find the full toolkit, Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Entrepreneurs, here.
For more information, please check out our research portal of Immigration and Covid-19 with weekly updates. If you have any specific questions about our data, please reach out to us at [email protected].
