New data shows Atlanta’s immigrant household income grew by 13 percent in one year

New York – Today New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research and advocacy organization focused on immigration, released new data highlighting the significant contributions immigrants make to the Atlanta community and economy. The data shows that immigrants in Atlanta are driving economic growth — the metro area’s immigrant household income grew by nearly 13 percent in just one year. Immigrants are also major consumers who help power Atlanta’s businesses. In 2017, Atlanta’s immigrants held $21.6 billion in spending power, a nearly $3.5 billion increase from 2016.

The research is part of NAE’s Map the Impact, an interactive map that quantifies immigrant contributions at the national, state, metro area, and congressional district levels, and across industries.

Key findings for metro Atlanta include:

• Immigrants pay billions in taxes and hold significant spending power. In 2017, immigrants in Atlanta paid nearly $8 billion in federal, state, and local taxes and held $21.6 billion in spending power.
• Immigrants are significant contributors to the Atlanta housing market. In 2017, there were 196,520 immigrant homeowners, a nine percent increase in just one year.
• Immigrants are critical job creators. In Atlanta, immigrants are 40 percent more likely to be entrepreneurs when compared to U.S.-born residents, and in 2017, there were more than 73,000 immigrant entrepreneurs.
• Immigrants may play a larger role in upcoming elections. More than 350,000 Atlanta immigrants were eligible to vote, an increase of more than 27,000 voters from 2016. For context, Gov. Brian Kemp won his 2018 gubernatorial race by fewer than 55,000 votes.

“Immigrants play a critical role in Atlanta’s growing job market,” said Kate Brick, Director of State and Local Initiatives at New American Economy. “This data underscores the importance of local policies that help recruit and retain talent from around the world to the region.”

Map the Impact shows NAE analysis of the latest data from the 2017 American Communities Survey. You can find the new version of the Map at maptheimpact.org.