Immigration and the Wealth of States

An analysis of data from 50 states and the District of Columbia demonstrates that a high resident population and/or inflow of immigrants is associated with elevated levels and growth rates in Gross State Product, Personal Income, Per Capita Personal Income, Disposable Income, Per Capita Disposable Income, Median Household Income, and Median Per Capita Income.

In 1999, high immigration jurisdictions (HIJs) had higher rates of unemployment, individual poverty, and total crime than other states. In subsequent years, trends in each of these categories favored HIJs, compared to the other jurisdictions. By 2006, high immigration jurisdictions had lower rates of unemployment, individual poverty and total crime than other states.

Download now.