New Americans in the Hawkeye State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of Iowa’s population rose from 1.6% in 1990 [1], to 3.1% in 2000 [1], to 3.7% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Iowa was home to 112,289 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the total population of Springfield, Illinois. [3]

• 36.0% of immigrants (or 40,403 people) in Iowa were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 1.7% (or 28,274) of registered voters in Iowa 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].

1 in 18 Iowans are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Iowa’s population grew from 1.2% in 1990 [5], to 2.8% in 2000 [5], to 4.1% (or 123,105 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 0.9%  in 1990 [6], to 1.3% in 2000 [6], to 1.6% (or 48,041 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 1.3% (or 20,000) of Iowa voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 0.7% (11,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7].

• In Iowa, more than four in five (or 82% 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 thousands of jobs to Iowa’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Iowa totaled $2.6 billion—an increase of 732.0% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $1.8 billion—an increase of 560.0% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• Iowa’s 1,786 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $456.3 million and employed 5,532 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 1,536 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $288.6 million and employed 2,956 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Unauthorized immigrant families are integral to Iowa’s economy as taxpayers.

• Unauthorized immigrant families in Iowa paid between $40 million and $62 million in state and local taxes in 2007 [12], including:

• $2.7 million to $4.1 million in property taxes;
• $30.1 million to $46.5 million in sales and excise taxes; and
• $7.4 million to $11.4 million in income taxes.

• In addition, Iowa employers and unauthorized workers paid between $50.3 million and $77.8 million in Social Security and Medicare taxes to the federal government in 2007 [13]— benefits these workers will never collect.

Immigrants are integral to Iowa’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 4.5% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 75,526 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 2.1% of the state’s workforce (or 35,000 workers) in 2008 [14], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Iowa, the state would lose $1.4 billion in economic activity, $613.4 million in gross state product, and approximately 8,819 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [15].

Immigrants are integral to Iowa’s economy as students.

• Iowa’s 9,016 foreign students contributed $204 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 [16].

Immigrants excel educationally.

• The number of immigrants in Iowa with a college degree increased by 45.1% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [17] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• 29.6% of Iowa’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had a bachelor’s or higher degree in 2008 [17], compared to 24.0% of native-born persons age 25 and older.

• In Iowa, 75.2% 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 [17].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Mon, Nov 30, 2009 | Download File [18]