New Americans in the Palmetto State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of South Carolina’s population rose from 1.4% in 1990 [1], to 2.9% in 2000 [1], to 4.4% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  South Carolina was home to 195,069 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the entire population of Little Rock, Arkansas [3].

• 34.7% of immigrants (or 67,762 people) in South Carolina were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 1.3% (or 25,812) of all registered voters in South Carolina 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].

Roughly one-in-twenty South Carolinians are Latino or Asian—and they vote.

• The Latino share of South Carolina’s population grew from 0.9% in 1990 [5], to 2.4% in 2000 [5], to 4.1% (or 183,672 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 0.6%  in 1990 [6], to 0.9% in 2000 [6], to 1.1% (or 49,278 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos comprised 0.9% (or 18,000) of South Carolina voters in the 2008 elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7]. 

• In South Carolina, 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 tens of thousands of jobs to South Carolina’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of South Carolina’s Latinos totaled $3.8 billion—an increase of 925.1% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $2.0 billion—an increase of 544.2% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• South Carolina’s 4,414 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $2.1 billion and employed 15,011 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 3,015 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $691 million and employed 5,584 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are integral to South Carolina’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 5.6% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 124,917 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 2.2% of the state’s workforce (or 50,000 workers) in 2008 [12], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from South Carolina, the state would lose $1.8 billion in economic activity, $782.9 million in gross state product, and approximately 12,059 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [13].

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

• South Carolina’s 3,966 foreign students contributed $88.2 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 [14].

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In South Carolina, 29.6% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [15] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 21.2% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 18.2% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 37.3% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in South Carolina with a college degree increased by 48.6% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [15] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In South Carolina, 71.2% 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 [16].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Tue, Aug 25, 2009 | Download File [17]