New Americans in Hawaii

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Asians, and Latinos in the Aloha State (Update January 2012)

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Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Hawaii’s population and electorate.

• The foreign-born share of Hawaii’s population rose from 14.7% in 1990, to 17.5% in 2000, to 18.2% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hawaii was home to 248,213 immigrants in 2010, which is more than the total population of Jersey City, New Jersey.

• 56.9% of immigrants (or 141,320 people) in Hawaii were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2010—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 14.4% (or 75,221) of registered voters in Hawaii were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2008 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates.

Nearly half of all residents of Hawaii are Asian or Latino.

• The Asian share of Hawaii’s population was 38.9% (or 530,449 people) in 2010.  The Latino share of the population grew from 7.4% in 1990 to 8.9% (or 121,362 people) in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Asians accounted for 43.5% (or 199,000) of Hawaii voters in the 2008 elections, and Latinos 3.3% (or 15,000) according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  

• In Hawaii, 88% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.
• In 2009, 94.7% of children in Asian families in Hawaii were U.S. citizens, as were 98.9% of children in Latino families.

Asian and Latino entrepreneurs and consumers add tens of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to Hawaii’s economy.

• The 2010 purchasing power of Asians in Hawaii totaled $23.4 billion—an increase of 92% since 1990. Latino buying power totaled $2.9 billion—an increase of 208.5% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

• Hawaii’s 56,872 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $18.2 billion and employed 111,924 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 4,374 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $671.7 million and employed 3,977 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are essential to Hawaii’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 21.4% of the state’s workforce in 2010 (or 156,013 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Unauthorized immigrants are important to Hawaii’s economy as workers and consumers.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised roughly 4.6% of the state’s workforce (or 30,000 workers) in 2010, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Hawaii, the state would lose $2.0 billion in economic activity, $900.3 million in gross state product, and approximately 8,460 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.

Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes.

• Unauthorized immigrants in Hawaii paid $50.6 million in state and local taxes in 2010, according to data from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, which includes:

• $10.7 million in state income taxes
• $3.5 million in property taxes
• $36.5 million in sales taxes

Immigrants are integral to Hawaii’s economy as students.

• Hawaii’s 5,000 foreign students contributed $116.8 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.

Naturalized citizens advance educationally.

• The number of immigrants in Hawaii with a college degree increased by 34% between 2000 and 2009, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Hawaii, 86% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.

• The English proficiency rate among Asian children in Hawaii was 93.4%, while for Latino children it was 96.3%, as of 2009.

Published On: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 | Download File