The Contributions of New Americans in South Dakota

New American Economy has produced 51 reports on the contributions of new Americans in each of the states and the District of Columbia including the impact of immigrant entrepreneurship on local economies and estimates of the number of jobs that might be created locally from an increase in the availability of employment-based immigrant visas. South Dakota is home to more than 23,000 foreign-born residents making up 3 percent of the state population. Despite their small share of the population, South Dakota immigrants are 48 percent of butchers and other meat processing workers, 40 percent of industrial truck and tractor operators, and 17 percent of postsecondary teachers. Immigrant-owned businesses generated $7.1 million in business income in 2014, and the state’s foreign-born households were able to contribute more than one in every $42 paid by South Dakota residents in state and local tax revenues. (Crystal Ye for The Immigrant Learning Center Public Education Institute)

Download or view online.