Immigrant Heritage Month: Data Snapshot

The Immigration Research Initiative is honoring Immigrant Heritage Month with a new data snapshot that looks at the role of immigrants in the economy, especially as main Street business owners. Our analysis breaks down how immigrants keep our communities thriving by running businesses we all rely on like grocery stores, nail salons, restaurants, and barber shops.

Our data snapshot also breaks down economic contributions on Main Street by race, highlighting some key disadvantages that Black and Latine business owners face when running their own businesses.

Sources: Immigration Research Initiative analysis of 2023 ACS 5-year data. Business owners are people who are self-employed and own their own incorporated business. Main Street Business owners are as defined in Bringing Vitality to Main Street. Immigrant share of GDP is based on immigrant share of wage and salary earnings plus proprietor’s earnings.