Mario Godoy

Immigrants in the Illinois Workforce

Immigrants are an integral part of the Illinois workforce in a range of occupations. Immigrants in the Illinois workforce have contributed billions of dollars in taxes, and immigrant entrepreneurs in Illinois generate billions of dollars in business revenue. The American Immigration Council has compiled state by state immigration data and states. Following is an excerpt from AIC Immigrants in Illinois Fact Sheet, you can download the complete report with citations here.

Immigrants in the Illinois Workforce

One in six workers in Illinois is an immigrant, together making up an important part of the state’s labor force in a range of industries.

1.2 million immigrant workers comprised 17.9% of the labor force in 2015.
Immigrant workers were most numerous in the following industries:

Industry	Number of Immigrant Workers
Manufacturing	229,025
Health Care and Social Assistance	156,964
Accommodation and Food Services	138,107
Retail Trade	121,769
Administrative & Support; Waste Management; and Remediation Services	97,043
Analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey 1-year PUMS data by the American Immigration Council.

The largest shares of immigrant workers were in the following industries:

Industry	Immigrant Share (%) (of all industry workers)
Administrative & Support; Waste Management; and Remediation Services	27.2
Manufacturing	25.6
Accommodation and Food Services	24.5
Construction	22.3
Other Services (except Public Administration)	20.3
Analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey 1-year PUMS data by the American Immigration Council.

Immigrants are an integral part of the Illinois workforce in a range of occupations.

In 2015, immigrant workers were most numerous in the following occupation groups:

Occupation Category	Number of Immigrant Workers
Production	159,976
Transportation and Material Moving	126,768
Food Preparation and Serving Related	111,804
Office and Administrative Support	109,283
Sales and Related	103,265
Analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey 1-year PUMS data by the American Immigration Council.

The largest shares of immigrant workers were in the following occupation groups:

Occupation Category	Immigrant Share (%) (of all workers in occupation)
Building and Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance	34.5
Production	32.1
Computer and Mathematical Sciences	27.4
Food Preparation and Serving Related	24.5
Life, Physical, and Social Sciences	24.3
Analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey 1-year PUMS data by the American Immigration Council.

5% of Illinois’ workforce consisted of undocumented immigrants in 2014.

Immigrants in Illinois have contributed billions of dollars in taxes.

Immigrant-led households in the state paid $9.8 billion in federal taxes and $5.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2014.
Undocumented immigrants in Illinois paid an estimated $758.9 million in state and local taxes in 2014. Their contribution would rise to over $917.4 million if they could receive legal status.
DACA recipients in Illinois paid an estimated $131 million in state and local taxes in 2016.

As consumers, immigrants add tens of billions of dollars to Illinois’ economy.

Illinois residents in immigrant-led households had $40.1 billion in spending power (after-tax income) in 2014.

Immigrant entrepreneurs in Illinois generate billions of dollars in business revenue.

119,404 immigrant business owners accounted for 21.3% of all self-employed Illinois residents in 2015 and generated more than $2.5 billion in business income.
In 2015, immigrants accounted for 20.3% of business owners in the Chicago/Naperville/Joliet metropolitan area (which stretches from Wisconsin to Indiana through Illinois) and 6.5% of business owners in the St. Louis metro area (which straddles Illinois and Missouri).

The immigration attorneys at Godoy Law Office in Chicago and Lombard can help you with your immigration case. If you need help with an immigration issue, please contact our office or call us at 855-554-3639.