New research from New American Economy shows that immigrants in Mercer County paid over $1.3 billion in taxes and held $2.8 billion in spending power in 2019. The new report, New Americans in Mercer County, was prepared in partnership with the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition, the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Mercer County.

The report also features profiles of four Mercer County residents: Shing-Fu Hsueh, Al Maghazehe, Barry Zhang, and Laura Mora.

Key findings include:

• Immigrants are helping Mercer County meet its labor force demands. As of 2019, immigrants made up 23.1 percent of the area’s overall population, represented 28.8 percent of its working-age population, and 30.7 percent of its employed labor force.
• Immigrants are helping the region meet its rising labor in STEM and key industries. Immigrants accounted for 49.1 percent of the region’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers, over 34 percent of transportation and warehousing workers, 43.2 percent of manufacturing workers, and 28.6 percent of healthcare workers — all critical industries that have been essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Immigrants play a particularly significant role in the region’s entrepreneurs. Immigrants represented 37.5 percent of the entrepreneurs in Mercer County in 2019. About 4,700 immigrants worked for their own businesses, generating $144.2 million in business income.
• Immigrants in Mercer County help create or preserve local manufacturing jobs. Immigrants strengthened the local job market by allowing companies to keep jobs on U.S. soil, helping preserve or create 3,900 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise vanished or moved elsewhere by 2019.

Between 2014 and 2019, Mercer County population decreased by 0.4 percent, while the immigrant population grew by 9.8 percent. Without growth in the immigrant population, the total population in Mercer County would have decreased even more, by 2.5 percent. In 2019 alone, immigrants in Mercer County held $2.8 billion in spending power, and paid over $916 million in federal taxes and $415 million in state and local taxes. Despite making up 23.1 percent of the area’s overall population, immigrants represent 43.4 percent of construction workers, 39.3 percent of professional services workers, and 30.3 percent of hospitality workers. 

The report was produced as part of New American Economy and Welcoming America’s Gateways for Growth Challenge, which includes tailored research on the local immigrant population.

Read the full press release here.