What percent of jobs in the Chicago, IL area are held by immigrants?
Data updated May 22, 2024
In 2022, 22.2% of jobs in the Chicago, IL area were held by immigrants. Immigrants were defined as foreign-born residents, including those who became US citizens, were authorized to work in the US, or were undocumented residents.
Showing data for
In 2022
2 in 9
employed workers were immigrants
In 2022
22.2%
of employed workers were immigrants
In the Chicago, IL area, immigrants hold 22.2% of jobs, while they make up 21.6% of the total working-age population. This indicates a slightly higher employment rate for immigrants than their share of the working-age population would suggest. The working-age population includes everyone aged 16 and above.
In 2022, a larger percentage of jobs were held by immigrants in the Chicago, IL area than the US average
Immigrant participation in the workforce varies across industries. In the Chicago, IL area, the largest gap between foreign-born and native-born workers was in the manufacturing industry, where 15.8% of the foreign-born working-age population were employed compared to 10.2% of native-born workers. This highlights a significant gap in employment between foreign-born and native-born workers in the manufacturing industry in the Chicago, IL area.
The percentage of employed people varies between different sectors
Percentage of employed population in 2022
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The labor force participation rate — the percentage of the working-age population working or actively seeking work — for immigrants in the Chicago, IL area was 67.3%, higher than the 66.3% rate for the native-born population. This shows that immigrants were seeking work at a higher rate than the native-born population in the state.
