[1]The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Keystone State (Updated Updated May 2013)
Download the 2013 Infographic [2] (2010 Version) [3]
Download the Fact Sheet [4] (Updated 2013)
Download the Previous Fact Sheet [5] (From 2010)
View the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fact Sheet for Pennsylvania
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Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for large and growing shares of the economy and population in the electoral swing state of Pennsylvania. Immigrants (the foreign-born) make up 5.9% of the state’s population, and over half of them are naturalized U.S. citizens eligible to vote. “New Americans”—immigrants and the children of immigrants—account for 4.5% of all registered voters in the state. Latinos and Asians (both foreign-born and native-born) account for more than 8% of all Pennsylvanians and wield $33 billion in consumer purchasing power. At last count, businesses owned by Latinos and Asians had sales and receipts of $14.8 billion and employed more than 73,000 people. At a time when the economy is still recovering, Pennsylvania can ill-afford to alienate such a critical component of its labor force, tax base, and business community.
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 [7], to 4.1% in 2000 [7], to 5.9% in 2011 [8], according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Pennsylvania was home to 756,410 immigrants in 2011 [8], which is nearly the total population of Columbus, Ohio [8].
- 52.3% of immigrants (or 395,879 people) in Pennsylvania were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2011 [8]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.
- Unauthorized immigrants comprised 1.3% of the state’s population in 2010 [9] (or 160,000 people), according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
- 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 [10].
Roughly 1 in 12 Pennsylvanians are Latino or Asian.
- The Latino share of Pennsylvania’s population grew from 2.0% in 1990 [11], to 3.2% in 2000 [11], to 5.9% (or 751,430 people) in 2011 [8]. The Asian share of the population grew from 1.1% in 1990 [12], to 1.8% in 2000 [12], to 2.8% (or 358,168 people) in 2011 [8], 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 [13].
- In Pennsylvania, 86.9% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009 [14], according to data from the Urban Institute.
- In 2009 [14], 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 2012 purchasing power of Pennsylvania’s Latinos totaled $16.1 billion—an increase of 665% since 1990. Asian buying power also totaled $16.9 billion—an increase of 648% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [15] at the University of Georgia.
- Pennsylvania’s 31,313 Asian-owned [16] 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 [16] 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 7.1% of the state’s workforce in 2011 [8] (or 457,910 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 [17].
- 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 [18].
- Unauthorized immigrants comprised 1.7% of the state’s workforce in 2010 [9] (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 [19].
Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes.
- Unauthorized immigrants in Pennsylvania paid $135 million in state and local taxes in 2010 [20], 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 33,398 foreign students contributed $1.1 billion to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2011-2012 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators [21].
Immigrants in Pennsylvania excel educationally.
- The number of immigrants in Pennsylvania with a college degree increased by 58.9% between 2000 and 2011, according to data [22] from the Migration Policy Institute.
- 35.1% of Pennsylvania’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2011 [22], compared to 26.3% of native-born persons age 25 and older.
- In Pennsylvania, 88% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009 [14], 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 [14].
Published On: Fri, Jan 11, 2013 | Download File [4]