New Americans in the Empire State

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

Immigrants account for more than one in five New Yorkers.

• The foreign-born share of New York’s population rose from 15.9% in 1990 [1], to 20.4% in 2000 [1], to 21.7% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  New York was home to 4,236,768 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the total population of Los Angeles, California [3].

• 51.9% of immigrants (or 2,200,696 people) in New York were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 17.9% (or 1,457,574) of all registered voters in New York are “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].

Latinos and Asians comprise a powerful share of the New York electorate.

• The Latino share of New York’s population grew from 12.3% in 1990 [5], to 15.1% in 2000 [5], to 16.7% (or 3,254,880 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 3.8%  in 1990 [6], to 5.5% in 2000 [6], to 7.0% (or 1,364,321 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos comprised 9.8% (or 743,000) of New York voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 3.3% (or 248,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7]. 

• In New York, nearly nine-in-ten (or 89% 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.

Immigrants are essential to New York’s economy as workers and consumers.

• Immigrants comprised 26.9% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 2,715,694 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• “New York’s immigrants are responsible for $229 billion in economic output in New York State,” or 22.4% of the total New York State GDP, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [9].

• Immigrants accounted for 28% of total economic output in the New York metropolitan area as of 2007, according to another study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [10].  In fact, “immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population.  The economy of metro areas grows in tandem with the immigrant share of the labor force.”

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from New York in 2008, the state would lose $28.7 billion in economic activity, $12.7 billion in gross state product, and approximately 137,013 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [11].

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

• The 2009 purchasing power of New York’s Latinos totaled $76.0 billion—an increase of 223% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $50.6 billion—an increase of 317.2% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [12] at the University of Georgia.

• New York’s 145,108 Asian-owned [13] businesses had sales and receipts of $30.4 billion and employed 164,316 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 163,588 Latino-owned [14] businesses had sales and receipts of $12.3 billion and employed 70,183 people in 2002,  according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are integral to New York’s economy as students.

• New York’s 74,934 foreign students contributed $2.2 billion to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators [15].

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In New York, 31.7% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [16] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 24.5% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 23.2% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 34.4% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in New York with a college degree increased by 35.1% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [16] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In New York, 77.0% 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 [16].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Tue, Aug 11, 2009 | Download File [17]