New Americans in the Treasure State

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

Immigrants and their children are significant shares of Montana’s population and electorate.

• The foreign-born share of Montana’s population was 1.7% in 2008 [1] (21,285 people), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• 52.7% of immigrants (or 11,214 people) in Montana were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [1]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 2.3% (or 11,779) of registered voters in Montana 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 [2].

3.2% of Montanans are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Montana’s population grew from 1.5% in 1990 [3], to 2.0% in 2000 [3], to 2.8% (or 27,088 people) in 2008 [1].  The Asian share of the population was 0.7% (or 6,772 people) in 2008 [1], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 1.7% (or 8,000) of Montana voters in the 2008 elections, according to the U.S. Census Bureau [4].

• In Montana, more than nine-in-ten (or 94%) 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 millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Montana’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Montana totaled $599.4 million—an increase of 596.3% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $192.0 million—an increase of 378.9% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [6] at the University of Georgia.

• Montana’s 511 Asian-owned [7] businesses had sales and receipts of $99.9 million and employed 1,519 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 964 Latino-owned [8] businesses had sales and receipts of $99.1 million in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are important to Montana’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 2.1% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [9] (or 10,807 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Montana, the state would lose $96.3 million in economic activity, $42.8 million in gross state product, and approximately 720 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [11].

Immigrants are important to Montana’s economy as students.

• Montana’s 1,227 foreign students contributed $28.4 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 [12].

Immigrants excel educationally.

• The number of immigrants in Montana with a college degree increased by 32.1 percent between 2000 and 2008, according to data [13] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Montana, 81.5% 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 [13].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Tue, Mar 16, 2010 | Download File [14]