New Americans in the Equality State

The Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Wyoming.

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

• The foreign-born share of Wyoming’s population rose from 1.7% in 1990 [1] to 2.3% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Wyoming was home to 12,372 immigrants in 2008 [2].

• 36.5% of immigrants (or 4,513 people) in Wyoming were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 1.5% (or 3,798) of registered voters in Wyoming 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 [3].

Roughly one-in-twelve Wyomingites are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Wyoming’s population grew from 5.7% in 1990 [4], to 6.4%  in 2000 [4], to 7.7% (or 41,015 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew 0.6% in 1990 [5] to 0.7% (or 3,729 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 2.8% (or 7,000) of Wyoming voters in the 2008 elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [6].  

• In Wyoming, more than four-in-five (or 86% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [7], according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Wyoming’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Wyoming totaled $1.3 billion—an increase of 382.0% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $214.9 million—an increase of 635.4% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [8] at the University of Georgia.

• Wyoming’s 1,320 Latino-owned [9] businesses had sales and receipts of $220.6 million and employed 3,604 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 401 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $84.4 million and employed 1,237 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants contribute to Wyoming’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 2.8% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 8,303 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised less than 2.0% of the state’s workforce (or fewer than 10,000 workers) in 2008 [11], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Wyoming, the state would lose $194.3 million in economic activity, $86.3 million in gross state product, and approximately 1,260 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [12].

Immigrants are important to Wyoming’s economy as students.

• Wyoming’s 890 foreign students contributed $16.9 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators [13].

Naturalized citizens advance educationally.

• In Wyoming, 21.7% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [14] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared 18.5% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 9.2% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 22.4% of noncitizens.

• In Wyoming, 81.1% 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 [14].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Jul 08, 2010 | Download File [15]