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 critical role immigrants play in the region’s workforce, business creation, and consumer spending power.
Between 2014 and 2019, the population of Greater Salem – which includes Beverly, Danvers, Peabody and Salem, Massachusetts – grew by 2.6 per cent, and the immigrant population grew by 2.7 per cent. Over the same period, immigrants accounted for 10.5 percent of the county’s total population growth. In 2019 alone, immigrants in the county held $536.9 million in spending power, paid $144.9 million in federal taxes and $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 communities to receive research support and/or technical assistance from the American Immigration Council and Welcoming America to improve immigrant inclusion in their communities. WIN, the Latino Leadership Coalition and the City of Salem will launch the report at a community event to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month on Tuesday 10 October. At the event, local Latino immigrant leaders will be recognised for their contributions to the community around this year’s theme, “Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power and Progress in America,” which recognises the significant strides Hispanics have made in the economic, political and social growth of the North Shore.
“I’m excited about the opportunity this report and its findings give us to engage in meaningful and productive conversations about how we can 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 critical role immigrants play in driving growth, strengthening 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 Greater Salem residents can contribute and thrive.”
“The Greater Salem region continues to be an example of how communities can effectively harness the talents of immigrants to create greater prosperity for all residents,” said Molly Hilligoss, Network Director of Welcoming America. “We are thrilled that the Gateways for Growth Challenge can help make the region an even more welcoming place for the future.”
The new research report, New Americans in Greater Salem:
Immigrants are helping the region meet its workforce needs. In 2019, immigrants made up 10.0 percent of the county’s population, but 11.4 percent of the employed labor force.
Immigrants are helping Greater Salem meet its growing labour needs in key industries. While immigrants made up 10.0 percent of the region’s total population in 2019, they accounted for 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 sustain local manufacturing jobs. Immigrants have strengthened the local labour market by allowing companies to keep jobs on US soil, helping to retain or create 800 local manufacturing jobs that would otherwise have been eliminated or moved elsewhere by 2019.
Immigrants play an important role as entrepreneurs in the region. Immigrants made up 14.3 percent of business owners in the Salem metro area 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.
