What percent of the workforce in the are immigrants?

Updated May. 13, 2026Refreshed annually
Immigrants were 18.4% of employed workers in the US in 2024. Immigrants are defined as foreign-born residents, including those who became US citizens, are authorized to work in the US, or are undocumented residents.
In 2024,

7 in 40

employed workers were immigrants
In 2024,

18.4%

of employed workers were immigrants
While immigrants were 18.4% of employed workers, they made up 17.2% of the working-age population in the US. This indicates a higher employment rate than expected. The working-age population includes everyone aged 16 and above.

In the US, 18.4% of employed workers were immigrants in 2024.

Share of employed workers who are foreign born, 2010–2024

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In what industries do immigrants work?

In 2024, foreign born workers were most commonly employed in these industries:
  1. Education and health services (20.4% of all employed foreign-born workers)
  2. Professional and business services (14.8%)
  3. Manufacturing (10.4%)
  4. Construction (9.9%)
  5. Leisure and hospitality (9.6%)
Immigrant and native-born workers are sometimes concentrated in different industries. In the United States, the largest gap between foreign-born and native-born workers was in the education and health services industry, where 20.4% of the foreign-born working-age population were employed compared to 24.6% of native-born workers.

Compared to the native-born population, immigrant workers more frequently worked in the construction industry.

Share of employed workers across industries, by nativity (2024)

In what states do immigrants make up the largest share of the workforce?

In 2024, immigrants made up the largest share of employed people in:
  1. California (33.4% of employed workers)
  2. New Jersey (30.9%)
  3. Florida (28.8%)
  4. New York (27.9%)
  5. Nevada (25.4%)
Out of the states that have annual data on foreign-born workers, immigrants comprised the lowest share of workers in Mississippi (3.6%). Census does not produce annual data on the foreign-born workforce for all states when the sample size is too small. States where this was the case in 2024 were: North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, West Virginia, and Montana.

In 2024, immigrants made up the largest share of employed workers in California.

Share of employed workers who are foreign born, by state

Share of employed workers who are immigrants, by geography (2024)

Share of employed workers who are immigrants, by geography (2024)
1.

California 

33.4%
2.

New Jersey

30.9%
3.

Florida 

28.8%
4.

New York

27.9%
5.

Nevada 

25.4%
6.

Texas 

23.2%
7.

Hawaii 

23.1%
8.

Massachusetts 

22.3%
9.

Maryland 

22.0%
10.

Washington state

20.6%

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Methodology

USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.

The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.

Page sources

USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.