New Report Shows Immigrants in Greater Salem Paid Over $200 Million in Taxes and Held $500 Million in Spending Power in 2019
Immigrants in Greater Salem made up 14.3 percent of business owners, generated $41.3 million in business income, and helped create and preserve 800 manufacturing jobs.
SALEM, MA — A new report, New Americans in Greater Salem, released today by the American Immigration Council — in partnership with The Welcome Immigrant Network (WIN) and the City of Salem, underscores the crucial role immigrants play in the region’s labor force, business creation, and consumer spending power.
Between 2014 and 2019 the population of Greater Salem — including Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, and Salem, Massachusetts — increased by 2.6 percent and the immigrant population grew by 2.7 percent. During this same period, 10.5 percent of total population growth in the county was attributable to immigrants. In 2019 alone, immigrants in the county held $536.9 million in spending power, paid $144.9 million in federal taxes, and paid $64.3 million in state and local taxes.
The new report was awarded to the Welcome Immigrant Network (WIN) and the City of Salem as part of the Gateways for Growth Challenge, a competitive opportunity for localities to receive research support and/or technical assistance from the American Immigration Council and Welcoming America to improve immigrant inclusion in their communities. The WIN, the Latino Leadership Coalition and the City of Salem will present the report at a Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration community event on Tuesday, October 10. At this event local Latino Immigrant leaders will be recognized for their community contributions along this year’s theme of “Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America” recognizing the significant strides of Hispanics in the economic, political, and social growth of the North Shore.
“I’m excited for the opportunity this report and its finding provides us to engage in meaningful and productive conversations about how to continue to make Salem and surrounding communities more inclusive; while celebrating our immigrant stories and our contributions to the growth of the North Shore,” said Elsabel Rincon, Founder of The Welcome Immigrant Network.
“This report quantifies the crucial role that immigrants play in driving growth, powering key local sectors, and creating jobs in Greater Salem” said Rich André, Director of State and Local Initiatives at the American Immigration Council. “This data provides a boost to the region’s strategic planning efforts with the goal of ensuring that all residents of Greater Salem can contribute and thrive.”
“The Greater Salem Region continues to be an example for how communities can effectively harness the talent of immigrants to create greater prosperity for all residents,” said Molly Hilligoss, Network Director of Welcoming America. “We’re thrilled that the Gateways for Growth Challenge can be part of making the region an even more welcoming place for the future.”
The new research report, New Americans in Greater Salem, finds:
- Immigrants are helping the region meet its labor force demands. In 2019, immigrants made up 10.0 percent of the county’s population but accounted for 11.4 percent of its employed labor force.
- Immigrants are helping Greater Salem meet its rising labor needs in key industries. While making up 10.0 percent of the region’s overall population in 2019, immigrants represented 19.8 percent of manufacturing workers, 18.3 percent of STEM workers, 15.3 percent of construction workers, and 13.5 percent of health care and social assistance workers.
- Immigrants in Greater Salem 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 800 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise been eliminated or moved elsewhere by 2019.
- Immigrants play a significant role in the region as entrepreneurs. Immigrants represented 14.3 percent of business owners in Greater Salem in 2019. Approximately 1,400 immigrant entrepreneurs generated $41.5 million in business income for the region.
- Immigrants support the federal safety net. Immigrants contributed $70.1 million to Social Security and $20.0 million to Medicare in Greater Salem in 2019.
Read the full research brief to learn more.
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About The Welcome Immigrant Network
The Welcome Immigrant Network (WIN) is a grassroots all-volunteer nonprofit that supports the integration of newly arrived immigrants in the North Shore through orientation, advocacy, and support so that all of our communities can participate in American civic and economic life upon arrival to the U.S. while being able to maintain dignity, seek opportunity, and find security in their lives. Visit Welcomeimmigrantnetwork.org to learn more.
About the American Immigration Council
The American Immigration Council works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economy merged to combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants’ ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information on ImmigrationImpact.com and Twitter @immcouncil.
About Welcoming America
Welcoming America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs. We believe that all people, including immigrants, are valued contributors and vital to the success of our communities and shared future. Through the Welcoming Network, we work to change systems and culture by providing communities the roadmap they need to create welcoming policies and share new approaches to inclusion to create an environment where everyone can truly thrive. Learn more at welcomingamerica.org.