New research from New American Economy shows that immigrants and refugees in the Minneapolis area paid over $443 million in taxes and held $1.2 billion in spending power in 2019. The new report, New Americans in Minneapolis, was prepared in partnership with the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the City of Minneapolis’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

The report also features profiles of four Minneapolis residents: Belén Rodríguez, Khadija Ali, Raj Chaudhary, and Sunny Chanthanouvong.

Key Findings

• Immigrants and refugees are helping Minneapolis meet its labor force demands. As of 2019, immigrants and refugees made up 14.9 percent of the area’s overall population, represented 17.4 percent of its working-age population, and 15.8 percent of its employed labor force.

• Immigrants and refugees are helping the region meet its rising labor in STEM and key industries. Immigrants and refugees accounted for 13.4 percent of the region’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers, over 25 percent of transportation and warehousing workers, 19 percent of manufacturing workers, and 20 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 13.2 percent of the entrepreneurs in Minneapolis in 2019. About 2,700 immigrants worked for their own businesses, generating $37.6 million in business income.

• Immigrants in Minneapolis 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 2,900 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise vanished or moved elsewhere by 2019.

Between 2014 and 2019 the Minneapolis population grew by 6.3 percent, with the immigrant and refugee population growing by 2.4 percent. Immigrants and refugees accounted for 5.9 percent of the total population growth in the region. In 2019 alone, immigrants and refugees in the Minneapolis area held $1.2 billion in spending power, and paid over $284 million in federal taxes and $159 million in state and local taxes. Despite making up 14.9 percent of the area’s overall population, immigrants and refugees represent 28.7 percent of construction workers, 25.5 percent of transportation and warehousing workers, and 20.4 percent of health care and social assistance workers. 

The report was produced as part of NAE’s and Welcoming America’s Gateways for Growth Challenge, which includes tailored research on the local immigrant population and technical assistance in the creation of a multi-sector strategic immigrant integration plan.

Read the full press release here.