What percent of jobs in Washington state are held by immigrants?
About 19.6% 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
1 in 5
employed workers were immigrants
In 2022
19.6%
of employed workers were immigrants
While immigrants hold 19.6% of jobs, they make up 17.8% 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 Washington
Immigrant participation in the workforce varies across industries. In Washington, the largest gap between foreign-born and native-born workers was in the agriculture/mining industry, where 6.4% of the foreign-born working-age population were employed compared to 1.4% of native-born workers.
Percentage of employed population in Washington, 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 Washington was 69.6%, higher than the 62.4% 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.
