What percent of jobs in the Washington, DC area are held by immigrants?
Data updated May 22, 2024
In 2022, 29.8% of jobs were held by immigrants in the Washington, DC area. Immigrants are defined as foreign-born residents, including those who became US citizens, are authorized to work in the US, or are undocumented residents.
Showing data for
In 2022
3 in 10
employed workers were immigrants
In 2022
29.8%
of employed workers were immigrants
While immigrants hold 29.8% of jobs, they make up 28.4% of the total working-age population in the Washington, DC area. This indicates a slightly higher employment rate than expected. The working-age population includes everyone aged 16 and above.
In 2022, a larger percentage of jobs were held by immigrants in the Washington, DC area than the US average
Immigrant participation in the workforce varies across industries. In the Washington, DC area, the largest gap between foreign-born and native-born workers was in the public administration industry, where 8.2% of the foreign-born working-age population were employed compared to 14.9% of native-born workers. This significant gap highlighted the differing employment patterns between foreign-born and native-born workers in the region.
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 Washington, DC area was 73.2%, higher than the 68.3% 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.
