The American Immigration Council released new data on New Jersey’s immigrant population and their contributions to the state. The New Jersey state fact sheet includes data on population size, occupation, and tax contributions, as well as data on undocumented immigrants and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in the state.
While the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the critical role immigrants are playing on the front lines and in stimulating our economic recovery, it remains crucial for the public to understand the broad range of contributions immigrants make to communities in New Jersey.
The Council’s fact sheet, Immigrants in New Jersey, shows that the state has a large immigrant community, many of whom hail from India. Roughly 23% of New Jersey’s population was born in another country, while 1 in 6 residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent. Foreign-born residents are vital to New Jersey’s workforce, with immigrants accounting for over two-fifths of all healthcare support workers and half of production employees.
The fact sheet also reveals that immigrants in New Jersey account for 29% of the state’s labor force and paid $19.7 billion in federal taxes and $9.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2018. As consumers, immigrants spent $65.8 billion on New Jersey’s economy in 2018. Immigrant entrepreneurs in New Jersey generated $3.8 billion in business revenue in 2018.
As of 2019, New Jersey was home to 16,620 active DACA recipients, and 32% of DACA-eligible immigrants in the state had applied for DACA. New Jersey DACA recipients and DACA-eligible individuals paid an estimated $57.2 million in state and local taxes in 2018.
Undocumented immigrants comprised 5% of New Jersey’s total population and 8% of the state’s workforce in 2016. Undocumented immigrants in New Jersey paid an estimated $1.1 billion in federal taxes and $604.3 million in state and local taxes in 2018.
Drawing from U.S. Census data and other sources, the Council developed 50 state fact sheets—including infographics—that provide the latest demographic and economic contributions of immigrants in each U.S. state and can be accessed here.
