New research from New American Economy shows that immigrant households in Charlotte, NC earned nearly $4.9 billion and contributed over $1.2 billion in taxes in 2017. Produced in partnership with the City of Charlotte, the report illustrates the impact immigrants have on the economy of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte.

In addition to their financial contributions, which include $527.6 million to Social Security and $140.8 million to Medicare in 2017, the report shows how important immigrants are for Mecklenburg County’s economy and workforce. Despite making up just 15.1 percent of the population, immigrants made up 16.4 percent of business owners in the county in 2017. Immigrants also play a major role in vital industries, representing 25 percent of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workers, 44.7 percent of construction workers, and 26 percent of manufacturing workers. The report also shows how immigrants helped strengthen the local job market by helping to preserve or create 7,473 manufacturing jobs that would have either disappeared or moved by 2017.

In Charlotte, immigrant households earned $4 billion and contributed more than $1 billion in taxes in 2017. In addition, immigrants were responsible for 29.6 percent of the total population growth in Charlotte between 2012 and 2017, with the immigrant population increasing by 21.7 percent.

Charlotte was one of 14 communities selected nationally for the 2019 Gateways for Growth award to receive research from NAE.

Read the full research brief here.