[1]The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Keystone State (Updated January 2012)
Download the Fact Sheet [3] (2010 Census Data)
Download the Previous Fact Sheet [4] (2008 Census Data)
Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Pennsylvania’s population and electorate.
- The foreign-born share of Pennsylvania’s population rose from 3.1% in 1990 [5], to 4.1% in 2000 [5], to 5.8% in 2010 [6], according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Pennsylvania was home to 739,068 immigrants in 2010 [6], which is nearly the total population of Columbus, Ohio [6].
- 49.5% of immigrants (or 366,119 people) in Pennsylvania were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2010 [6]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.
- 4.5% (or 290,283) of all registered voters in Pennsylvania were “New Americans”—immigrants or the children of immigrants—according to an analysis of 2008 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates [7].
Roughly 1 in 12 Pennsylvanians are Latino or Asian.
- The Latino share of Pennsylvania’s population grew from 2.0% in 1990 [8], to 3.2% in 2000 [8], to 5.7% (or 724,449 people) in 2010 [6]. The Asian share of the population grew from 1.1% in 1990 [9], to 1.8% in 2000 [9], to 2.8% (or 355,870 people) in 2010 [6], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Latinos comprised 2.8% (or 161,000) of Pennsylvania voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians about one-half of one percent (or 31,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [10].
- In Pennsylvania, 86.9% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009 [11], according to data from the Urban Institute.
- In 2009 [11], 87.6% of children in Asian families in Pennsylvania were U.S. citizens, as were 95.2% of children in Latino families.
Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add tens of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to Pennsylvania’s economy.
- The 2010 purchasing power of Pennsylvania’s Latinos totaled $14.2 billion—an increase of 574.5% since 1990. Asian buying power also totaled $12.2 billion—an increase of 440.8% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [12] at the University of Georgia.
- Pennsylvania’s 31,313 Asian-owned [13] businesses had sales and receipts of $11.6 billion and employed 58,506 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 22,777 Latino-owned [13] businesses had sales and receipts of $3.2 billion and employed 15,362 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.
Immigrants are essential to Pennsylvania’s economy as workers.
- Immigrants comprised 7.0% of the state’s workforce in 2010 [6] (or 453,252 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Immigrants accounted for nearly three-quarters of labor-force growth in Philadelphia between 2000 and 2006, according to a report by the Brookings Institution [14].
- Immigrants accounted for 10% of total economic output in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and 4% of economic output in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [15].
- Unauthorized immigrants comprised 1.7% of the state’s workforce in 2010 [16] (or 110,000 workers), according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
- If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Pennsylvania, the state would lose $5.3 billion in economic activity, $2.3 billion in gross state product, and approximately 27,718 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [17].
Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes.
- Unauthorized immigrants in Pennsylvania paid $135 million in state and local taxes in 2010 [18], according to data from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, which includes:
- $34.9 million in state income taxes.
- $7 million in property taxes.
- $93.1 million in sales taxes.
Immigrants are integral to Pennsylvania’s economy as students.
- Pennsylvania’s 28,097 foreign students contributed $887.9 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2009-2010 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators [19].
Immigrants in Pennsylvania Excel Educationally.
- The number of immigrants in Pennsylvania with a college degree increased by 46.6% between 2000 and 2009, according to data [20] from the Migration Policy Institute.
- 35.8% of Pennsylvania’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2009 [20], compared to 25.7% of native-born persons age 25 and older.
- In Pennsylvania, 88% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009 [11], according to data from the Urban Institute.
- The English proficiency rate among Asian children in Pennsylvania was 88%, while for Latino children it was 87.5%, as of 2009 [11].
Published On: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 | Download File [21]