New Americans in the Beehive State

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Utah.

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

• The foreign-born share of Utah’s population rose from 3.4% in 1990 [1], to 7.1% in 2000 [1], to 8.3% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Utah was home to 226,440 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the total population of Winston-Salem, North Carolina [3].

• 32.0% of immigrants (or 72,399 people) in Utah were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 4.1% (or 38,195) of registered voters in Utah 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 2006 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates [4].

Roughly one-in-seven Utahns are Latino or Asian—and they vote.

• The Latino share of Utah’s population grew from 4.9% in 1990 [5], to 9.0% in 2000 [5], to 12.0% (or 328,371 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.5%  in 1990 [6], to 1.7% in 2000 [6], to 2.0% (or 54,728 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 2.2% (or 21,000) of Utah voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 1.2% (11,000) according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7].

• In Utah, nearly three-in-five (or 57% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [8], according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

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

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Utah totaled $5.8 billion—an increase of 679.2% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $1.7 billion—an increase of 402.5% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• Utah’s 2,824 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $707.0 million and employed 7,145 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 5,177 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $555.1 million and employed 5,251 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Mexican immigrants are integral to Utah’s economy as taxpayers.

• Mexican immigrants in Utah “own property valued at $984 million,” have more than $1.0 billion in purchasing power, and paid more than $67 million in state and local taxes in 2000 [12], according to a report by the Institute of Public and International Affairs at the University of Utah, including:

• $7.5 million in income tax;
• $52.2 million in sales tax; and
• $7.6 million in property tax.

Immigrants are integral to Utah’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 11.2% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 154,290 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 5.8% of the state’s workforce (or 80,000 workers) in 2008 [13], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Utah, the state would lose $2.3 billion in economic activity, $1.0 billion in gross state product, and approximately 14,219 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [14].

Immigrants are integral to Utah’s economy as students.

• Utah’s 6,301 foreign students contributed $115.8 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators [15].

Latinos are one of the fastest growing groups of new converts to the Mormon Church.

• Mormons now make up 58% percent of Utah’s population, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life [16].

• Latinos make up 30% of all current Mormon Church members. The Mormon Church also has roughly 2.5 million Latin American members [17]—up more than 70% from four years ago.

• Latinos will represent more than an estimated 50% of Mormon Church members by 2020, according Armando Solorzano [18], researcher at the University of Utah.

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In Utah, 29.6% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [19] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 17.7% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 20.7% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 38.5% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Utah with a college degree increased by 64.8% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [19] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Utah, 75.1% of all children between the ages of 5 and 17 in families that spoke a language other than English at home also spoke English “very well” as of 2008 [19].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Jul 01, 2010 | Download File [20]