In partnership with the Immigration Research Initiative and the Economic Policy Institute. Art by Melanie Cervantes.

Immigrant workers and business owners grow Wisconsin’s economy

Nearly 300,000 immigrants reside in Wisconsin. Immigrants work in low-wage, middle-wage, and higher-wage jobs in sectors across our state’s economy.

Immigrant workers and business owners generate $23 billion of economic output in Wisconsin. Immigrant contribution to GDP is about the same as immigrant share of the labor force.

Immigration increases opportunity for Wisconsinites

When immigrants move to Wisconsin, the economy grows. That doesn’t mean fewer jobs, it means more jobs: there are more consumers, more workers, and more business owners. Study after study shows there is no fixed number of jobs in a state. Immigration creates opportunities that benefit U.S.-born workers too.

As Wisconsinites age, we’ll need more workers

As our population ages, new immigrants help keep our economy growing at a sustainable rate. Immigrants help meet growing needs for health care, home care, and supportive services that are key for older Wisconsinites to have a dignified retirement.

Some people try to scapegoat immigrants to keep us divided. We don’t have to fall for it.

After decades of stagnating wages, today wage growth is starting to move in the right direction. We know how to create a good economy for workers. It requires uniting around policy choices like investments in infrastructure and manufacturing with strong labor standards and livable wages. Regardless of race or country of birth, we all do better when we unite for policies that prioritize the wellbeing of all children and families living in Wisconsin.

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Sources

Share of immigrants in each occupation are from the 2022 American Community Survey 5-year data, the most recent available that gives a robust sample for detailed analysis.

Trend in population, labor force, and business owners is from 2022 American Community Survey 1-year data, the most recent that allows for inclusion of all three data points.

Business owners are defined as people who are self-employed and own an incorporated business.

Main Street business owners are people who own grocery stores, retail shops, restaurants, dry cleaners, and other businesses that typically populate Main Streets. They are defined in the census data as Retail (from jewelry stores to florists to grocery stores), Accommodation and Food Services (restaurants, bars and hotels), and Neighborhood Services (beauty salons, barber shops, nail salons, dry cleaning, and car washes). The first two are standard industry categories, while the third is the majority of what is generally called “Other Services.” A fuller analysis is available in Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How Immigrant Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow.

Immigrant share of economic output, or GDP, are estimated by showing the share of all earned income – wages plus proprietors’ earnings. The data source is the 2021 American Community Survey 5-year data. The GDP dollar amount is calculated by multiplying this share by the total GDP, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, by the immigrant share. This methodology is explained most fully in the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Working for a Better Life, Appendix B.

For information about the impact of immigrants on U.S.-born workers, see for example the academic paper Immigration’s Effect on US Wages and Employment Redux, by Alessandro Caiumi and Giovanni Peri, or a more accessible paper by Peri, Do Immigrant Workers Depress the Wages of Native Workers? The recent sudden increase in immigration coincided with positive outcomes for U.S.-born workers, including some of the fastest wage growth in decades for low-wage workers.