CT Ranks 11th in U.S. in Economic Impact of Immigrants
/In an analysis of the economic impact of foreign-born populations on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Connecticut ranks 11th in the nation. The states were immigrants have the biggest economic impact, according to the analysis by the financial website WalletHub, are California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Florida and Washington.
To determine the states in which immigration has the most positive economic impact, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across four key dimensions: 1) Immigrant Workforce, 2) Socioeconomic Contribution, 3) Brain Gain & Innovators and 4) International Students.
Connecticut was just outside the top 10 overall, with its top ranking in the socioeconomic contribution category, where it ranked eighth. Connecticut ranked tenth in both workforce and international student categories, and 13th in “brain gain and innovation.” The four dimensions were examined using 20 key metrics, ranging from jobs generated by immigrant-owned businesses as a share of total jobs to foreign-born STEM workers as a share of total STEM workforce.
"Connecticut ranked 11th in terms of economic impact of immigration. It has the eighth most work visas per capita, and the sixth largest share of active physicians who are international medical graduates at 28.8%, explained WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez. “Twelve percent of households in Connecticut are second-generation immigrants and the median household income of foreign born population is the ninth highest, which means immigrants bring a strong socioeconomic contribution to the state. Additionally, Connecticut has the fifth most H1-B visas per capita."
At the bottom of the list, reflecting the least immigrant impact, were Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Mississippi.
Connecticut also ranked 7th in the share of second-generation immigrant households and 9th in the median household income of the state’s foreign-born population, $64,168.
