New Americans in the Mount Rushmore State

The Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in South Dakota.

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

• The foreign-born share of South Dakota’s population rose from 1.1% in 1990 [1], to 1.8% in 2000 [1], to 1.9% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  South Dakota was home to 14,894 immigrants in 2008 [2].

• 45.5% of immigrants (or 6,773 people) in South Dakota were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 1.3% (or 5,789) of registered voters in South Dakota 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].

Nearly 26,000 South Dakotans are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of South Dakota’s population grew from 0.8% in 1990 [4] to 1.4% in 2000 [4], to 2.4% (or 19,301 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew 0.4% in 1990 [5], to 0.6% in 2000 [5], to 0.8% (or 6,434 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• In South Dakota, nearly seven-in-ten (or 70% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [6], 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 hundreds of jobs to South Dakota’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in South Dakota totaled $477.1 million—an increase of 990.8% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $205.5 million—an increase of 614.3% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [7] at the University of Georgia.

• South Dakota’s 355 Latino-owned [8] businesses had sales and receipts of $121.9 million and employed 660 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 300 Asian-owned [9] businesses had sales and receipts of $87.6 million and employed 582 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants contribute to South Dakota’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 2.2% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [10] (or 9,950 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised less than 1.5% 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 South Dakota, the state would lose $190.5 million in economic activity, $84.6 million in gross state product, and approximately 1,440 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [12].

Immigrants are important to South Dakota’s economy as students.

• South Dakota’s 931 foreign students contributed $13.9 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 excel educationally.

• In South Dakota, 42.1% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [14] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 25.2% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 19.3% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 23.0% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in South Dakota with a college degree increased by 64.5% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [14] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In South Dakota, 78.0% 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 [14].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

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