Global Roots, Local Impact: A Research Review of How Immigrants Impact the Economies, Health, and Safety of their Communities
Across American counties, cities, and states, immigrants—both documented and undocumented—have innumerable socioeconomic impacts on the communities they now call home. To better understand these impacts, CUNY ISLG has analyzed research on three key indicators of a thriving community: economy, health, and safety.
By Diana Spahia, Senior Research Associate, Carla Sinclair, Communications Project Director, and Stephanie Rosoff, Deputy Research Director
Over 50 million immigrants live across the United States. While the largest concentrations are in major metropolitan areas such as New York, California, and Texas, there are sizable enclaves in small and medium-sized cities across the country, as well as more rural areas.
Across these communities, immigrants—both documented and undocumented—have innumerable socioeconomic impacts on the communities they now call home, from paying billions of dollars in taxes to starting new businesses to staffing healthcare systems.
Despite the contribution of immigrants in the US, White House proclamations, executive orders, and other policy directives in the past year have suggested that immigration burdens taxpayers and compromises public safety, and that they “cost” more than they contribute. This has resulted in the tripling of the immigration enforcement budget and in unprecedented enforcement actions across the country, including those that have ended in violence towards people of all citizenship statuses.
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Documented Immigrants: Individuals residing in the United States under visas, green cards, refugee/asylee status, or naturalized citizenship. They are authorized to work, pay taxes, and access most, if not all in some cases, public service
Undocumented Immigrants: Individuals without current legal authorization to live or work in the United States—including those who entered without inspection or overstayed a visa.[1] They still contribute economically (e.g., through income, sales, and property taxes) but face barriers to formal employment and most public programs.
At the state and local level, the impacts of documented and undocumented groups overlap. Communities experience their combined economic, social, and demographic contributions, from filling essential jobs to contributing to taxes, health systems, and civic life. These categories are also subject to political winds, jurisdiction-specific differences in definition, and legal challenges; therefore, they are constantly in a state of flux. This report acknowledges the difference between undocumented and documented immigrants where necessary, but analyzing both together provides a fuller picture of how foreign-born community members as a population influence local budgets, services, and community vitality.
Anti-immigration narratives are not novel, neither is the pursuit to truly understand the true impact of immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, on American communities. In 2021, the Institute of State & Local Governance at the City University of New York (CUNY ISLG) conducted a nonpartisan, data-driven review of the relationship between immigration and crime. Immigration and Crime: A Public Policy Red Herring found that when immigration increases, violent crime rates generally go down, not up.
CUNY ISLG is now assessing the impact of immigrants on three key indicators of a thriving community: economy, health, and safety.
This research from CUNY ISLG and from others is part of a larger picture that shows that immigrants contribute positively to the success of American life. Adding to this picture, CUNY ISLG is now assessing the impact of immigrants on three key indicators of a thriving community: economy, health, and safety. While the imperative to treat immigrants (and all people) with human rights and dignity does not hinge on their economic impact, these anti-immigration narratives have become ubiquitous. To clarify the record, CUNY ISLG researchers endeavored to review the available scientific, peer-reviewed evidence as it relates to the county, city, and state communities that provide the foundation to American society.
This comprehensive research review has found that both undocumented and documented immigrants spur economic development, provide vital services, and have a positive influence on community safety. This brief summarizes this scientifically validated evidence that demonstrates how impacts of immigration reverberate in cities, counties, and states across the country.
Through Taxes, Entrepreneurship, and Labor, Immigrants Play a Major Role in the US Economy.
Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have a significant and positive impact on the American economy through paying tax revenues, contributing heavily towards American benefit and healthcare programs, propelling innovations and inventions, and starting both small and billion-dollar businesses.
Immigrants contribute significantly to tax revenue across the country.
In 2023, both documented and undocumented immigrants combined paid $419.8 billion in federal taxes and $232.1 billion in state and local taxes. Undocumented immigrants, just like citizens, pay federal, state, and local taxes. Measured relative to their incomes, undocumented immigrants pay about 8.9 percent in taxes toward funding public infrastructure, services, and institutions. By comparison, individuals in the top 1 percent of the income scale pay a tax rate of 7.2 percent.
Contrary to some anti-immigration narratives, undocumented immigrants do pay income taxes as well as sales tax: in 2022 alone, nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants paid roughly $97 billion dollars in income taxes ($37 billion was paid to state and local governments and $59 billion went to the federal government). Six states received more than one billion dollars each in income tax revenue just from undocumented immigrants, with some states receiving as much as nine billion in income tax revenue from undocumented individuals.[2] The American Immigration Council calculates that together, both documented and undocumented immigrants pay $16.80 for every $100 tax dollars collected by federal, state, and local governments.
Several studies provide evidence that granting legal status to undocumented migrants would further increase income tax revenue. Undocumented individuals already contribute significantly to tax revenues, but if they were granted legal status, their income tax potential is even higher. Researchers have estimated that granting legal status to undocumented immigrants would further boost tax revenue by an additional $40.2 billion annually, of which $7.1 billion would go to state and local governments. In addition to income tax, immigrants pay other state and local taxes, including sales tax, property tax, and business taxes, totaling almost of 40 billion dollars in 2022.
Altogether, the literature highlights a twofold impact: immigrants pay into state and local services through income taxes and additionally stimulate the economy through purchases, property taxes, and business formation.
Altogether, the literature highlights a twofold impact: immigrants pay into state and local services through income taxes and additionally stimulate the economy through purchases, property taxes, and business formation. And this is just the tax revenue—the impact of immigrants’ spending has a multiplier effect on the economy. Research has found that immigrants contribute $1.7 trillion in spending power to the United States each year through their discretionary purchasing activities. Nearly $300 billion of this can be attributed to undocumented migrants.
Immigrants have outsized impact on innovation and business.
Aside from passive contributions by way of tax payments in their various forms, immigrants contribute actively to the economy through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) innovation and entrepreneurship, which are key determinants of economic growth. In 2016, immigrants made up 23 percent of individuals employed in STEM occupations in the US, and have been responsible for 32 percent of total American innovation since 1990, despite the fact that they comprise only 16 percent of inventors nationally. This study also found that immigrants, via inventions and patenting, were responsible for 25 percent of the aggregate economic value of the United States. Indeed, foreign-born inventors generally produce more patents that are ranked at the top 25 percent in the categories of Computers and Communications, Drugs and Medical, Electronics, and Chemical technologies.
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H-1B visas are one of the most common pathways for skilled workers to be allowed entry into the United States. There are several requirements which must be met in order for someone to become eligible:
Must hold a Bachelor’s Degree or higher
The work conducted must require specialized skills and knowledge
The specialty occupation must pay the prevailing wage
An American employer must submit a registration online, accompanied by a fee
Must be selected by lottery process, capped at about 85,000 applicants.
As of September 21, 2025, President Trump has implemented new criteria making it even more competitive for someone to receive an H1-B visa. A new wage-level selection system means that higher level positions have a higher chance of selection than lower-paying positions. Additionally, there is now a $100,000 fee for every new H1-B visa petition, where the prior costs incurred by employers was between $2,000-$5,000.
Entrepreneurship is another critical way immigrants contribute substantially to the American economy. Entrepreneurship is one of the main drivers of job growth in the US, and there are nearly 4 million immigrant entrepreneurs in the country. Indeed, by starting enterprises in the United States, immigrants have created jobs for native-born individuals, not taken them away—more on that below.
By starting enterprises in the United States, immigrants have created jobs for native-born individuals, not taken them away.
The combined worth of immigrant-founded companies in the US is $248 billion, which is more than the combined worth of all companies in some large countries. Two hundred and thirty Fortune 500 businesses were started by immigrants or their children. Immigrants and their children are almost twice as likely as native-born citizens to start a business or become an entrepreneur. A study published by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that as of 2018, immigrants co-founded at least 55 percent of American companies worth over $1 billion.
In addition to the thousands of jobs created, many of these immigrant-led companies have impacted the everyday lives and technology of the average American. Some billion-dollar businesses that were founded or co-founded by immigrants include Uber, Zoom, Slack, ZocDoc, InstaCart, Peloton, Credit Karma, and Warby Parker. Contrary to the current discourse on H-1B visas, bringing highly skilled immigrants to the US to work in STEM does not stymie local business and industry. In contrast, it is estimated to increase in regional entrepreneurship from 4.6-7.4 percent.
Within immigrant-led businesses, immigrants are also in key management or product development positions. In over 80 percent of these billion-dollar companies, immigrants are directly responsible for innovation and company growth (i.e., via hiring) through holding positions such as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Engineering Officer in addition to Chief Executive. On average, these businesses have hired 1,200 individuals per company, but can have upwards of 9,000 employees across the country. This job creation is especially prevalent in California, New York, and Massachusetts, where many of these companies are based.
The immigrant workforce has significant impact on state, regional, and national GDP.
Through sophisticated statistical modeling, one research study demonstrated that that if immigration flow to the US ceased entirely, there would be notable negative impacts to American Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The study found that there would be a decline in the country’s labor force, lower consumer demand for products, and diminished government spending; it would also create a need to redirect investment toward the retired population (see more on that in the next section). In essence, halting immigration would result in a 20 percent drop in GDP through 2060.
When analyzed at the state and local level, the forecast models predict that the Northeast region of the US would be impacted most severely by employment losses and would experience the steepest drops in state GDP (greater than the national average). However, every state would experience an 8-14 percent decline in GDP by 2040, along with an 8-12 percent drop in total number of available jobs. Researchers also found that restricting immigration would cut deeply into the “willing-and-working” age population, causing a 3 percent decline in labor force participation rate by 2060. In sum, if legal efforts to further restrict immigration and legal status continue, the United States stands to lose billions of dollars in tax revenues, business, and technological innovation leadership.
Healthcare for All Americans is Subsidized and Provided by Immigrants.
Immigrants provide significant labor and money to the healthcare system. By paying higher premiums and utilizing services at lower rates than native-born individuals, they offset costs for all Americans; immigrants also make up the majority of staff who provide healthcare, elder care, and other services in the US.
Through taxes and healthcare premiums, immigrants subsidize healthcare for the community at large.
With reduced immigration, communities will face accelerating problems stemming from crumbling healthcare and geriatric care infrastructures. Immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, subsidize a sizeable portion the US healthcare system and balance the financial deficits in the system at large. Immigrants utilize health care services at a lower rate than native-born individuals while paying equally high premiums. Immigrants’ annual private insurance premiums cost more than their care expenditures, as much as by $1,123 per non-native born enrollees. On average, this surplus offsets a deficit of $163 per native-born enrollee. To illustrate at the aggregate level, in 2017, immigrants paid $58.3 billion dollars more to US healthcare than insurers and the government paid for their care.
There are several reasons this occurs: first, there are fewer geriatric immigrants who rely heavily on expensive healthcare treatments, as only 18 percent of individuals aged 65+ are foreign-born. Second, research also indicates that immigrants—undocumented immigrants in particular—are healthier[3] than native-born citizens of a similar age, and thus have lower overall healthcare costs. Third, government policies such as 2020’s “Public Charge Rule”—which expanded the criteria “for determining whether applicants for permanent residency, or green cards, may be denied based on past or potential use of government benefit programs”—may have an effect on immigrant uptake of government benefit programs they are eligible for. Similarly, immigrants, particularly those that are undocumented, may avoid healthcare treatment because they cannot afford it.
Research demonstrates another critical way immigrants are upholding healthcare infrastructure: by contributing payments that go towards care of the elderly. A study conducted in 2024 found that through payroll taxes, both documented and undocumented immigrants contributed a total of $215.8 billion, or 1.6 percent of total contributions, to Social Security and $58.7 billion, or 16 percent of total contributions, to Medicare. A study using data from 2023 estimated that $33.9 billion dollars were paid by undocumented immigrants in social security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes—benefits from which they are mostly excluded.
Current immigrants and immigration policies that encourage immigration can be part of the solution to healthcare benefits and collection of social security taxes.
This comes at a time when the number of retired individuals tapping into Medicare and Social Security is on the rise. With falling native-born birth rates, the current native-born labor force will not be able to sustain retirees in the next generations. Researchers posit that current immigrants and immigration policies that encourage immigration can be part of the solution to healthcare benefits and collection of social security taxes. As of 2023, 17.7 percent, or 30,680,600 of the American workforce was made of foreign-born workers (including documented and undocumented immigrants). Relaxing anti-immigration policies could increase this number, and in turn enhance the Medicare and Social Security systems, even further.
A growing share of key healthcare services are provided by immigrants.
Healthcare is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States, especially in terms of employment. Across the country, employment in the healthcare industry has nearly doubled in the past 40 years, from 9.3 million jobs in 1990 to 18.1 million in 2022. A 2025 CUNY ISLG study on New York’s human services sector showed that care for the state’s aging population as well as home health care, childcare, and other human services roles were some of the fastest growing job numbers, with an 89 percent increase in employment since 2000.
Looking at both countrywide and state-specific examples such as New York, immigrants—women in particular—are represented in higher levels in this field than in the economy at large. This is especially true for positions such as home health aides, nursing assistants, and childcare workers. In New York, those positions make up nearly 80 percent of human services roles—and a large portion of this workforce is foreign-born, including 67 percent of home health aides.
At the national level, the percentage of home health aides born in other countries is growing, doubling from 8.8 percent to 16.5 between 1980 and 2022. As the demand for healthcare, childcare, eldercare, and other services continues to skyrocket, it is clear that immigrants will play a key role in expanding the supply to meet this demand, and are critical for ensuring that people continue to have the access they need to grow, live, and age with health and dignity.
Immigrants—and immigration-friendly policies—contribute to safer communities.
There is a narrative that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are more likely to commit a crime. However, across all crime categories, studies show that immigrants are far less likely to commit a crime than native-born Americans, that crime committed by immigrants is declining, and that the presence of immigrants actually makes communities safer.
Immigrants are no more likely to commit crimes than native-born people, and even make communities safer.
Decades of research has uncovered a strong, empirically supported relationship: immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes as compared to native-born individuals, and their presence is actually a safety factor that decreases crime in communities. In a review of robust research studies, CUNY ISLG researchers found no evidence of a connection between increased immigration and increased crime rates. Mirroring research on crime at the individual level, our review showed that an increased presence of immigrants lowered crime rates in areas that are immigrant-dense.
Decades of research has uncovered a strong, empirically supported relationship: immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes as compared to native-born individuals, and their presence is actually a safety factor that decreases crime in communities.
A recent study based in Texas found that US-born American citizens are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for property crimes, nearly three times more likely to be arrested for drug-related crimes and are twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes than an immigrant. Additional research has been published further confirming that immigrants are not disproportionately associated with crime and indeed are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.
Analyzing data on perpetrators of offenses across violent crimes, property crimes, drug violations, and traffic violations shows undocumented immigrants had the lowest felony arrest rates across all four crime categories. Legal immigrants had the second lowest felony arrest rates for all of the categories except traffic violations. Finally, research also shows arrests of undocumented immigrants were decreasing over the longer term. Communities with larger immigrant populations and immigration-friendly policies have lower crime rates.
The root causes of crime are nuanced and often linked to structural inequalities and economic conditions, not immigration status. A decade of research highlights how municipalities can adopt immigrant-friendly legislation with no adverse impacts on public safety, and beyond that, lead to positive spillover effects for the entire community.
Robust evidence shows that immigrants (undocumented or otherwise) are not the major perpetrators of crime and that aggressive immigration enforcement practices do not reduce crime. In fact, recent research shows that areas higher with more aggressive deportation activities see a surge in violent crime.
Conversely, there is ample support indicating that counties and states that adopt pro-immigration practices and policies (sanctuary policies) have lower violent and property crime rates. Another study about sanctuary cities found that over a period of 20 years, every percent increase in undocumented Mexican immigrants in a sanctuary city led to a 5 percent decrease in the homicide rate.
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Immigrant sanctuary cities are those that adopt practices and policies with the aim of protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation. While the exact ways this happens depends on the jurisdiction, sanctuary cities limit collaboration with immigration authorities, and/or local law enforcement is restricted from detaining, sharing information about, or otherwise assisting in the deportation-related federal activities.
Cities can become sanctuary cities both formally (such as passing ordinances) or informally, by refusing to assist federal immigration authorities. See a full map here.
Another study on sanctuary policies analyzed perpetration of property crimes by foreign-born Latines and native-born Latines, in sanctuary versus non-sanctuary counties across the United States. Researchers found that counties that adopted sanctuary policies saw a decrease in violent and property crime with the presence of Latine immigrants. The study also found that the presence of foreign-born Latines positively influenced native-born Latines. Using Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data, researchers found that sanctuary policies reversed the positive association between native-born Latines and property crime and strengthened the inverse relationship between foreign-born Latines and property crime. In other words, the presence of foreign-born Latines increased community safety as they themselves are unlikely to commit property crimes and also seemed to influence a reduction in perpetration of crimes by native-born Latines.
Lastly, research shows that immigration enhances community safety in other ways, beyond lower crime rates. Communities with immigrant populations are more resilient and welcoming to change, leading to a more tolerant, safer environment for all. This is because communities that have sustained, long-term interactions with immigrants in their neighborhood and places of work tend to have overall more positive attitudes towards the ancestral groups of migrants and are less likely to support nativist political stances, known in scientific circles as the contact hypothesis.
In Conclusion
Reflecting on the research, immigrants contribute to the United States in myriad ways. Coming from across the world into American communities, they pay taxes, contribute to the economy, spurring an economic multiplier effect, are a source of labor in critical fields, and are innovators and employers. Immigrant presence in community leads to increased diversity, tolerance, and community safety.
The current punitive immigration policies have taken a hard stance on immigration that hasn’t been seen in the United States for decades. Projections indicate that slashing migration numbers dramatically will affect American communities by way of economic decline, and the healthcare industry will suddenly have less individuals to contribute to care costs and work in essential support roles. Additionally, heightened deportation leads to distrust of law enforcement, and some victims of crime are less likely to communicate with police, allowing perpetrators to remain in communities. Research in the coming months and years should track these policy changes and their ramifications across these different sectors to better understand the holistic impact this has on American cities, counties, and states. As a country founded and built by immigration, this research is pivotal to how it continues to grow and create opportunity for all.
As a country founded and built by immigration, this research is pivotal to how it continues to grow and create opportunity for all.
[1] While we recognize that out-of-status immigrants initially entered the country legally, research conducted does not always specify who is included in definitions of “undocumented”. Therefore, as the purpose of this brief is to synthesize empirical data on contributions of immigrants, we will not be parsing throughout between undocumented and out-of-status individuals.
[2] The six states that received tax revenues in excess of one billion dollars from undocumented migrants in 2022 include California ($8.5 billion), Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey ($1.3 billion).
[3] Dubbed the Healthy Migrant Effect (HME), research spanning several decades has shown that foreign-born individuals seem to show a health advantage when compared to native-born individuals. Specifically, they had more years of average life expectancy, and to rate their health as excellent, when compared to US-born individuals. See “A Healthy Migrant Effect? Estimating Health Outcomes of the Undocumented Immigrant Population in the United States Using Machine Learning.” (2022)
Project Credits
Authors: Diana Spahia, Senior Research Associate; Carla Sinclair, Communications Project Director; Stephanie Rosoff, Deputy Research Director
Research: Diana Spahia, Senior Research Associate; Nathalie Lebrón, Senior Policy Associate; Daphne Moraga, Research Analyst; Erin Sheena, Research Analyst
Advisement: Reagan Daly, Research Director; Alison Diéguez, Policy Program Director; Patrick Hart, Associate Policy Director
Web Development and Communications Design: Carla Sinclair, Communications Project Director