NEW REPORT: Immigrants are Fueling Economic Growth, Revitalizing Communities in Great Lakes States

Washington, D.C., Oct. 15, 2024—According to a new report, from Upwardly Global and the American Immigration Council, immigrants are key to the economic success and future viability of communities across the Great Lakes State’s region. 

READ THE REPORT HERE.

The report, “Building Community and Fueling Growth: The Role of Immigrants in Reviving the Great Lakes Region,” analyzed communities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York. It found that immigration was key to fueling population growth, maintaining a viable workforce for critical industries like manufacturing and healthcare, and bolstering local economies. Specifically, the report found that: 

• Immigrants to the Great Lakes States’ have fueled the region’s population growth, offsetting rural decline, and keeping the workforce viable.

• The immigrant population of the region increased by 15.9 percent between 2010 to 2022, while the U.S.-born population increased by just 0.3 percent. As a result, immigrants were responsible for 78.5 percent of the region’s population growth during that time.

• In rural areas, the immigrant population grew by 5.5 percent between 2010 and 2022, while the U.S.-born population shrank by 3.1 percent. While immigrants comprised just 2.2 percent of the rural population in 2022, without them the entire population of the rural Great Lakes region would have decreased by 3.0 percent, or 361,300 people.

• Just 61.7 percent of the U.S.-born residents in the region were of working age in 2022, a share that has continued to drop as the population ages. By contrast, 78.2 percent of the area’s foreign-born residents were of working age, making them vital to the region’s economic vitality.

• Immigrants drive job growth. Each foreign-born resident creates 1.2 additional jobs in rural counties, keeping businesses alive and stabilizing housing markets

• Immigrants hold voting power. Over 2.6M naturalized immigrants could be the margin of victory in key 2024 swing states.

• Immigrants to the Great Lakes States’ have brought talent to the region - serving critical roles in the manufacturing industry, and an outsize role in providing health care services. 

• The share of foreign-born residents in the Great Lakes region with at least a bachelor’s degree rose 6.2 percentage points between 2010 and 2022, to 39.0 percent. About 19.3 percent of foreign-born residents held an advanced degree.

• Immigrants continued to work in large numbers at hard-to-fill factory jobs, occupying 42.5 percent of meat processing jobs and 30.8 percent of hand-packer jobs.

• Immigrants also comprised 16.4 percent of the STEM workforce at a time when manufacturing industries—including aircraft and pharmaceutical manufacturing—are in need of high-skill workers like physical scientists, logisticians, and software developers.

• In 2022, immigrants made up 27.8 percent of the region’s physicians, 20.6 percent of its surgeons, and nearly 17 percent of both its dentists and personal care aides, despite comprising just 7.8 percent of the population. 

• Immigrants to the Great Lakes States’ are driving new small business creation and contributing billions of dollars to local tax revenues.

• The number of self-employed immigrants rose by 45.8 percent between 2010 and 2022, more than six times the rate of their U.S.-born counterparts. Meanwhile, the number of immigrant entrepreneurs within Main Street businesses rose by 20.7 percent, two and a half times that of the U.S.-born entrepreneurs. 

• By 2022, immigrants made up 13.0 percent of the region’s self-employed and 16.4 percent of its Main Street business owners, despite comprising just 7.8 percent of the population.

• Immigrant households generated $236.6 billion in income in 2022 and paid $65.7 billion in taxes, $23.9 billion of which went to state and local governments—money that helps fund schools, roads, and other public services. They held $170.9 billion in spending power—much of it circulated within the regional economy for groceries, transportation, housing, and other consumer goods. 

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE. 

“Immigrants aren’t just fueling our economy — they are voters, homeowners, and entrepreneurs who keep our communities running,” says Jina Krause-Vilmar, Upwardly Global President and CEO. “At Upwardly Global, we see firsthand how their contributions go beyond the numbers; they’re stabilizing neighborhoods, opening new businesses, and shaping the political future of swing states in the Great Lakes region.”

"The research details the incredible benefits that immigrants bring to states that will play a deciding role in this year's election outcome,” said Nan Wu, director of research at the American Immigration Council. “Even as dehumanizing lies spread about immigrant communities in places like Ohio, the facts are clear: immigrants make our communities more prosperous."

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