New Americans in Pennsylvania

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

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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, to 4.1% in 2000, to 5.8% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Pennsylvania was home to 739,068 immigrants in 2010, which is nearly the total population of Columbus, Ohio.

• 49.5% of immigrants (or 366,119 people) in Pennsylvania were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2010—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.

Roughly 1 in 12 Pennsylvanians are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Pennsylvania’s population grew from 2.0% in 1990, to 3.2% in 2000, to 5.7% (or 724,449 people) in 2010.  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.1% in 1990, to 1.8% in 2000, to 2.8% (or 355,870 people) in 2010, 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. 

• In Pennsylvania, 86.9% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.

• In 2009, 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 at the University of Georgia.

• Pennsylvania’s 31,313 Asian-owned 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 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 (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.

• 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. 

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 1.7% of the state’s workforce in 2010 (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.

Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes.

• Unauthorized immigrants in Pennsylvania paid $135 million in state and local taxes in 2010, 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.
  

 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 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, 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, 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.

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