Mounting Evidence Documents Contributions of Maryland’s Immigrants
The American Immigration Council has recently released a report documenting the positive impact immigrants have on Maryland. Those of us involved with the immigrant community know our communities are forever improved by the presence of immigrants. It is gratifying is to see the size of the positive impact be documented for everyone to see.
For example, immigrants boost the housing values of various communities around Maryland. In Baltimore County, the increase in value was $3,285. For Montgomery County, the value was even higher, $6,422. These increases can be seen all over the state.
The sheer size of the impact they have on the business community is also worth noting. At the time of the study’s completion, “20.9% of all business owners in Maryland were foreign born.” Furthermore, they accounted for 16.3% of all net business income in the state.
One of the most important statistics in the report was the education levels of the immigrant community. Having a college degree is one of, if not the single greatest determining factor as to whether or not a person will ever drop below the poverty line. In Maryland, a member of the foreign born population who is at least 25 years old is more likely to be college educated than a similar person who is born and raised in Maryland! The rate for which the immigrant population is acquiring degrees is still increasing.
The report also includes a wealth of other interesting statistics. It includes figures for the contributions to the tax base. It includes information about how much money is brought into the state by foreign students. It also includes information about the relative size of the community and its effect on the voter rolls.
As of this writing, a similar report for Virginia has not been released, but what statistics can be found are similar. For example, in Virginia, immigrants tend to be better educated than native born Virginians. The rates of earning college degrees are 38% to 34%. They also make a strong contribution to Virginia’s economy. 17% of Virginia’s business entrepreneurs are immigrants. What statistics that are available for Virginia paint a picture very similar to what we know of Maryland’s immigrant community.
The local immigrant community is large, is contributing a great deal, and is continuing to grow. Here at Beach-Oswald, we are proud to continue in our mission of helping that community to continue to grow so that it can continue to improve America.
Link: http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/just-facts/new-americans-maryland