Immigrants in the Workforce

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Immigrants in the Workforce: Some Fast Facts
August 9, 2005

Immigrants are:¹ 1 in 9 U.S. residents, 1 in 7 U.S. workers, 1 in 5 low-wage workers, 1 in 2 new workers
Nearly one-third of immigrant workers are from Mexico. ²
Between 1990-2000, the states that experienced the greatest increases in their immigrant populations were North Carolina (274%), Georgia (233%), Nevada (202%), and Arkansas (196%). ³
The size of the U.S. work force increased by 16.7 million workers in the 1990s. Of these workers, 6.4 million were immigrants (38%).⁴
90% of new job growth between 1996-2000 was due to immigrants in these states: Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont. ⁵
Even with employment of possible qualified native workers, there would have been a shortage of 500,000 workers in 13 occupational categories during the 1990s without non-citizen workers. These categories included: miscellaneous agricultural workers (shortage of 108,392 workers), maids and housekeeping cleaners, sewing machine operators, grounds maintenance workers, construction laborers, other production workers, cooks, painters, construction and maintenance, janitors and building cleaners, butchers and meat, poultry, fish processing workers, other metal workers and plastic workers, packers and packagers (hand), and packaging and filing machine operators and tenders. ⁶
One in four immigrants was employed in professional occupations and one in five was employed in service occupations in 2004. In comparison, one in three native-born workers was employed in professional occupations and one in seven was employed in service occupations.^⁷Immigrant workers comprise 14.3% of the U.S. workforce and were a significant proportion of the workforce in these occupations in 2003: farming, fishing, and forestry (39.7%), building and grounds maintenance (29%), production (21.7%), construction and extraction (21.5%), and food preparation and serving (20%).^⁸Foreign-born full-time workers earn 76 cents for every dollar earned by a full-time native worker.⁹
Three-fourths of all U.S. workers with less than a ninth-grade education are immigrants.^¹⁰
Two of every five low-wage immigrant workers are undocumented. Labor force participation is higher among undocumented men than among men who are legal immigrants or U.S. citizens.^¹¹
National Resource Council data indicate that an average immigrant pays $1,800 in taxes to local, state, and federal government above what he or she “costs” in services or benefits received. NRC also notes that costs to state and local government are higher.¹²

Future U.S. Workforce Projections

60 million workers are between the ages of 41-59.¹³ The first baby-boomers (born in 1946) will turn 65 in 2011, though experts believe many will opt to retire at age 62 instead, moving up the start of the retirement wave to 2008.^¹⁴
2005 projections estimate that between 2015-2020, the fertility rate in the U.S. will be 1.91 children per woman, dropping below the “replacement level” (two children is considered replacement). ^¹⁵
The economy continues to expand; between 2002-2012, job growth in professional and related occupations will be 23.3% and in service occupations will be 20.1%.¹⁶ According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be 27 million new jobs between 2002-2012 requiring a high school diploma or less education. ¹⁷
The ten occupations projected to experience the largest job growth between 2002-2012 include: post-secondary teachers (38%), registered nurses (27%), nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (25%), customer service representatives (24%), food preparation and serving workers (23%), janitors and cleaners (18%), general and operations managers (18%), waiters and waitresses (18%), retail salespersons (15%), and cashiers (13%). 18
Population estimates indicate that immigrants will generate all net labor force growth in the next twenty years because the size of the native-born population between the prime working ages of 25-54 will not grow. The baby boomer generation and presence of women in the workforce expanded the size of the workforce in past decades; low fertility rates mean that expansion of the native-born workforce is unlikely within the next 20-30 years.19

Prepared by:

Lindsay Littlefield, State-Federal Relations Fellow

Immigrant Policy Project – www.ncsl.org/programs/immig

National Conference of State Legislatures

Immigrants in the Workforce: Some Fast Facts August 9, 2005

Immigrants in the Workforce: Some Fast Facts
August 9, 2005