Immigrant Women and Girls in the United States: A Portrait of Demographic Diversity

Immigrant women and girls in the United States number more than 23 million and constitute a formidable presence in the U.S. economy and society. This fact sheet draws on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey to provide a detailed overview of their skills and rates of participation in the economy. Immigrant women and girls come from all over the world, outnumber male immigrants, are more likely than male immigrants to come to the U.S. via family-based immigration systems, and naturalize at rates higher than male immigrants (53.0 percent of female immigrants versus 48.1 percent of male immigrants). They account for nearly 16 percent of all employed women, and nearly a third of immigrant women have a bachelor’s or other advanced degree, although this share is lower than for U.S.-born women and immigrant men. Immigrant women work in every occupation, with nearly 35 percent in management, business, science and arts occupations, and they outnumber U.S.-born women in service occupations, production and transportation, and construction and maintenance occupations. Despite the extent of female immigrant education and presence in the workplace, however, they are paid less than U.S.-born men and women, and less than immigrant men. 

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