Immigrants in North Carolina

North Carolina is home to a small but growing immigrant community. While nearly 8 percent of the state’s total population is foreign-born, immigrants make up a significant share of North Carolina’s labor force. Over 44 percent of all residents working in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations are immigrants, as well as over 20 percent working in computer and math sciences. As workers, business owners, taxpayers, and neighbors, immigrants are an integral part of North Carolina’s diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all.

Nearly 1 in 12 North Carolina residents is an immigrant, while 1 in 15 is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

• In 2015, 794,684 immigrants (foreign-born individuals) comprised 7.9 percent of the state’s population.
• North Carolina was home to 359,390 women, 379,964 men, and 55,330 children who were immigrants.
• The top countries of origin for immigrants were Mexico (30.6 percent of immigrants), India (7.6 percent), Honduras (4.6 percent), El Salvador (3.6 percent), and Guatemala (3.3 percent).
• In 2016, 658,217 people in North Carolina (6.7 percent of the state’s population) were native-born Americans who had at least one immigrant parent.

More than a third of all immigrants in North Carolina are naturalized U.S. citizens.

• 297,427 immigrants (37.4 percent) had naturalized as of 2015, and 136,862 immigrants were eligible to become naturalized U.S. citizens in 2015.
• The majority of immigrants (72 percent) reported speaking English “well” or “very well.”

Immigrants in North Carolina are distributed across the educational spectrum.

• More than one-quarter of adult immigrants had a college degree or more education in 2015, while just under one-third had less than a high school diploma. 

Over 200,000 U.S. citizens in North Carolina live with at least one family member who is undocumented.

• 350,000 undocumented immigrants comprised 43 percent of the immigrant population and 3.4 percent of the total state population in 2014.
• 429,169 people in North Carolina, including 186,930 born in the United States, lived with at least one undocumented family member between 2010 and 2014.
• During the same period, 1 in 15 children in the state was a U.S. citizen child living with at least one undocumented family member (170,487 children in total).

More than 25,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients live in North Carolina.

• As of 2016, 72 percent of DACA-eligible immigrants in North Carolina, or 29,584 people, had applied for DACA.
• An additional 16,000 residents of the state satisfied all but the educational requirements for DACA, and another 8,000 would be eligible as they grew older.

One in ten North Carolina workers is an immigrant, together making up a critical part of the state’s labor force across industries.

• 521,577 immigrant workers comprised 10.7 percent of the labor force in 2015. 
• 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 North Carolina workforce in a range of occupations.

• In 2015, 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 5 percent of the state’s workforce in 2014.

Immigrants in North Carolina have contributed billions of dollars in taxes.

• Immigrant-led households in the state paid $3.6 billion in federal taxes and $1.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2014.
• Undocumented immigrants in North Carolina paid an estimated $277.4 million in state and local taxes in 2014. Their contribution would rise to $370.8 million if they could receive legal status.
• DACA recipients in North Carolina paid an estimated $63.6 million in state and local taxes in 2016.

As consumers, immigrants add hundreds of billions of dollars to North Carolina’s economy.

• North Carolina residents in immigrant-led households had $14.2 billion in spending power (after-tax income) in 2014.

Immigrant entrepreneurs in North Carolina generate over a billion dollars in business revenue.

• 55,867 immigrant business owners accounted for 11.7 percent of all self-employed North Carolina residents in 2015 and generated $1 billion in business income.
• In 2015, immigrants accounted for 14.9 percent of business owners in the Raleigh/Carey metropolitan area and 11.8 percent in the Charlotte/Gastonia/Concord metro area.