Cool data viz alert: Economic impact of immigrants in Philly

In case Day Without Immigrants wasn’t enough of a reminder, immigrants are a significant part of this city’s economy.

To put things in perspective, Philly’s Office of Immigrants Affairs partnered a national initiative from advocacy group New American Economy aimed at producing an interactive map with stats on immigrant population in every congressional district, taxes paid and spending power, among other stats.

The local government entity contributed by “spreading the word,” according to spokesperson Ajeenah Amir.

We won’t spoil you the fun of clicking through, but here are some Philly data points:

• At least  614,660, foreign-born residents make up 10.2 percent of the Philadelphia metro area’s population
• The city’s immigrant community paid $6 billion in total taxes, which include $1.7 billion in state and local taxes and $4.3 billion in federal taxes and held $15.8 billion in spending power in 2014
• Immigrants are 43.1 percent more likely to be entrepreneurs than the native population, and there are 40,171 immigrant entrepreneurs in Philadelphia (a few of whom we highlighted here)
• Immigrants own 148,622 homes in Philly

“This new research proves what we’ve known for years in Philadelphia: Immigrants are an asset to our local economy and every community in America,” said Miriam Enriquez, Office of Immigrant Affairs Director. “Real, substantive and thoughtful immigration policies from Washington would only benefit our country and our city.”