Report documents economic impact of immigrants
Based on their income, the report states, immigrants living in Alexandria contributed $262.4 million in federal taxes and $102.2 million in state and local taxes in 2016.
Immigrants in Alexandria contributed $150 million to Social Security and $39 million to Medicare, but were 33 percent less likely than U.S.-born residents to receive Medicare or Medicaid benefits.
The 42.400 immigrants in Alexandria comprised 28 percent of Alexandria’s overall population in 2016. They represented 32 percent of the working-age population and 31 percent of the employed labor force. This means immigrants were more likely than non-immigrants to be employed.
More than a third of the entrepreneurs in Alexandria (34.2 percent) were immigrants, and they generated $79.4 million in business income for the city. Just over 36 percent of the immigrants in Alexandria are undocumented.
While that report is limited to the City of Alexandria, Fairfax County has a similar proportion of immigrants and likely would have similar results.
Fairfax County’s 359,200 immigrants made up 30.5 percent of the county’s population in 2016, according to a demographic report issued by the county in 2017, and 72.3 percent of immigrants in Fairfax County are in the labor force.
9 responses to “Report documents economic impact of immigrants”
Leave a reply
Thanks for sharing this! These facts are important, to be sure. However, dislike of immigrants is primarily due to racism, and economic factors (even positive ones like the study mentions) really do not matter.
Good reporting, Ellie. It'd be interesting to see the numbers for Fairfax and Mason District. And then to compare then nationally.
I am curious about this. We have neighbors the are renting space in their home but zoning won't do anything. They are in Fairfax County and all of the "guests" have Maryland plate cars (to avoid taxes). We report to the County often but the County does nothing. In addition the children in the home attend Arlington county schools even though both parents are in Fairfax. The local elementary is not very good. I have heard of other in the community relate similar stories. I get that there are contributions being made, but how is it accounting for the drain as well?
Renting a home in Fairfax County is not a zoning violation. It all depends if the people renting are related or not related. If not related the owner can rent to a family (no number on the amount of family) plus two tenants. If the people that live at the house have Maryland tags that is a Tax Department issue. If the children are going to Arlington County Schools and do not live in Arlington you need to contact Arlington County Schools. So from what I have read its not a zoning issue. Hope this helps you out.
I don't think people have issue with legal immigration. If you legal immigrate you want to join the economy and society – and usually with the systems we have in place actually are able to contribute. It is when people conflate legal immigration to illegal immigration.
Every time an immigrant moves in they cut down trees and destroy the property. I have not seen evidence yet of them making an improvement. Where are the good immigrants? They don't seem to be in Mason.
Seriously? Every time? I am a resident homeowner in Mason, and I have several immigrant families in my proximity that keep their homes and properties in as good or better condition than some of the long-time established residents. Sounds like you're grossly generalizing.
Lol
"Think immigrants are a drain on the local economy? A report released by the City of Alexandria Aug. 17 paints a different picture."
Of COURSE they DO lol