- Press Release
New Data Analysis: Immigrants Driving Opportunity, Prosperity in the U.S., Including in Swing States
Immigrant households paid nearly 1 in 6 tax dollars collected by governments in 2022.
Washington, DC, June 5, 2024—
A new analysis of 2022 U.S. census data from the American Immigration Council highlights how, amidst the Biden administration's recent actions to limit asylum access along the U.S.-Mexico border, and in the context of ramped-up anti-immigrant rhetoric during this year’s presidential campaign, immigrants are helping make the United States a more prosperous and economically booming country.
The data is available in the Council’s Map the Impact interactive tool. Users can search for data showcasing immigrant contributions by state, county, metro area, and district.
Top findings from the data include:
I.) In 2022, immigrant households paid $579.1 billion in total taxes; that includes $35.1 billion in taxes paid by undocumented households. Immigrant households paid nearly one in every six tax dollars collected by federal, state, and local governments, helping fund a wide range of social services from public schools to food stamp programs and healthcare insurance for low-income families.
II.) In key swing states, undocumented immigrants are essential contributors to the economy, according to the latest data from 2022.
The breakdown:
- In Georgia, undocumented immigrants paid over $1 billion in taxes that year.
- Arizona: $766 million.
- Pennsylvania: $519 million.
- Michigan: $368 million.
- Wisconsin: $240 million.
III.) Immigrants are playing a key role in keeping Medicaid and Social Security afloat. They paid $194.5 billion to Social Security, helping provide monthly benefits averaging $1,777 to 109.5 million people, and $53.6 billion to Medicare in 2022.
IV.) Immigrants are filling critical jobs across the U.S., helping to feed Americans, care for the sick and elderly, build infrastructure, and drive STEM innovations.
- Over a quarter of workers in the U.S agriculture industry are immigrants.
- One in four workers in the country’s construction industry are immigrants.
- Nearly a quarter—23.1 percent—of all STEM workers in the U.S. are immigrants.
- Amid a nationwide shortage of healthcare professionals, immigrants help fill the much-needed jobs in this sector—15.6 percent of all nurses and 27.7 percent of all health aides are immigrants, according to the most recent data from 2022. In New York and New Jersey, over half of all health aides are foreign-born.
V.) As of 2022, almost one in every 7 people in the United States is an immigrant. Notably, some states that are passing anti-immigrant laws saw their migrant population grow significantly from 2021 to 2022, according to the most recently available data. Of the 50 states, Iowa had the highest growth rate in immigrant population between 2021 to 2022, at 17.6 percent. Iowa recently passed a law that will criminalize anyone who has re-entered the country after being deported, including children and people now authorized to be in the United States.
"When it comes to discussing immigration reform, this data highlights the need to broaden our conversation past what’s happening at the southern border,” said Nan Wu, Director of Research at the American Immigration Council. “Immigrants are essential workers who make incredible contributions to our country and our economy. We need policies that recognize that, and that means offering solutions for communities who’ve long been settled here but have no pathway towards legal status, and it means recognizing immigrants’ potential in growing industries from agriculture to tech.”
The Map the Impact tool can also be used to examine immigrant populations within a given geographic region, including spending power, immigrant entrepreneurs, and the number of eligible immigrant voters.
Reach out to the American Immigration Council to talk through top data findings for your state or community with one of experts.
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About the American Immigration Council
The American Immigration Council works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economy merged to combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants’ ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information on ImmigrationImpact.com and X @immcouncil.