New Americans in the Peach State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of Georgia’s population rose from 2.7% in 1990 [1], to 7.1% in 2000 [1], to 9.4% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Georgia was home to 910,473 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the entire population of San Francisco, California [3].

• 34.5% of immigrants (or 314,426 people) in Georgia were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 3.7% (or 146,139) of all registered voters in Georgia 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].

More than one-in-ten Georgians are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Georgia’s population grew from 1.7% in 1990 [5], to 5.3% in 2000 [5], to 7.9% (or 765,174 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.1%  in 1990 [6], to 2.1% in 2000 [6], to 2.9% (or 280,887 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos comprised 3.1% (or 128,000) of Georgia voters in the 2008 elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7]. 

• In Georgia, more than four-in-five (or 83% 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 Georgia’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Georgia’s Latinos totaled $15.5 billion—an increase of 1,063% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $8.7 billion—an increase of 678.3% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• Georgia’s 26,925 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $8.0 billion and employed 54,556 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 18,310 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $4.2 billion and employed 20,412 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are integral to Georgia’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 12.6% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 626,836 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 6.3% of the state’s workforce (or 325,000 workers) in 2008 [12], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Georgia, the state would lose $21.3 billion in economic activity, $9.5 billion in gross state product, and approximately 132,460 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [13].

Unauthorized immigrants contribute to the state’s economy.

• Unauthorized immigrants in Georgia contributed between $215.6 million and $252.5 million in aggregated sales, income, and property tax, according to a 2006 study [14] by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

• The average unauthorized family in Georgia contributed between $2,340 and $2,470 in state and local sales, income, and property tax, according to the same study [14].  An unauthorized family that does not pay income taxes would have a sales and property tax contribution of $1,800 to $1,860.

Immigrants are integral to Georgia’s economy as students.

• Georgia’s 14,026 foreign students contributed $366 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 [15].

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In Georgia, 39.0% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [16] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 24.4% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 14.5% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 36.5% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Georgia with a college degree increased by 86.7% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [16] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Georgia, 78.6% 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: Wed, Sep 02, 2009 | Download File [17]