What percent of jobs in Illinois are held by immigrants?
Data updated May 22, 2024
About 18.0% in 2022. Immigrants are defined as foreign-born residents, including those who became US citizens, are authorized to come to the US (e.g., for work), or are undocumented residents.
Showing data for
In 2022
2 in 11
employed workers were immigrants
In 2022
18%
of employed workers were immigrants
While immigrants hold 18.0% of jobs, they make up 17.1% of the total working-age population in the state. This means they are employed at a higher rate than expected. The working-age population is defined as the total number of people aged 16 and above.
Immigrant percentage of employed workers in Illinois
Immigrant participation in the workforce varies across industries. In Illinois, the largest gap between foreign-born and native-born workers was in the manufacturing industry, where 16.1% of the foreign-born working-age population were employed compared to 10.5% of native-born workers.
Percentage of employed population in Illinois, by sector of employment (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 Illinois was 67.2%, higher than the 64.3% 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.
Comparing immigrant percentage of employed workers of Illinois metro areas to others
