New Americans in the Mountain State

The Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in West Virginia.

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

• The foreign-born share of West Virginia’s population rose from 0.9% in 1990 [1], to 1.1% in 2000 [1], to 1.3% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  West Virginia was home to 23,273 immigrants in 2008 [2].

• 45.6% of immigrants (or 10,618 people) in West Virginia were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

Nearly 30,000 West Virginians are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of West Virginia’s population grew from 0.5% in 1990 [3], to 0.7% in 2000 [3], to 1.1% (or 19,959 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 0.4% in 1990 [4] to 0.5% (or 9,072 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• In West Virginia, nearly nine-in-ten (or 89% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [5], 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 West Virginia’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in West Virginia totaled $549.6 million—an increase of 491.2% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $567.7 million—an increase of 183% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [6] at the University of Georgia.

• West Virginia’s 648 Latino-owned [7] businesses had sales and receipts of $187.3 million and employed 1,395 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 1,234 Asian-owned [8] businesses had sales and receipts of $435.1 million and employed 4,329 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants contribute to West Virginia’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 1.6% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 13,647 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Unauthorized immigrants contribute to West Virginia’s economy as workers and taxpayers.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised less than 0.5% of the state’s workforce (or under 10,000 workers) in 2008 [9], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from West Virginia, the state would lose $26.6 million in economic activity, $11.8 million in gross state product, and approximately 180 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [10].

Immigrants contribute to West Virginia’s economy as students.

• West Virginia’s 2,732 foreign students contributed $59.7 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 [11].

Naturalized citizens advance educationally.

• In West Virginia, 44.0% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [12] had a bachelor’s or higher degree.  At the same time, only 11.3% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 20.6% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in West Virginia with a college degree increased by 19.0% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [12] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In 2008 [12], 44.6% of West Virginia's foreign-born population age 25 and older had a bachelor's or higher degree, compared to 16.7% of native-born persons above age 25.

• In West Virginia, 69.7% 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 [12].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Jul 01, 2010 | Download File [13]