Immigrants add billions to PA’s economy, but they’re being held back from their full potential

With an aging population and a decline in US-born workers, Pennsylvania will soon need a new workforce to sustain economic health. 

Immigrants are playing a pivotal role in fulfilling these needs, according to a recent report from workforce development nonprofit Upwardly Global and the American Immigration Council.

The report analyzed 2022 data across several states in the Great Lakes region, concluding that immigrants make outsized contributions to rejuvenating states like Pennsylvania and may be essential for regional recovery, as well as long-term economic growth. And immigrants are already playing a big role in Pittsburgh’s economy, according to local advocates. 

“There’s a real promise that immigrants bring,” Carey Harris, CEO of educational nonprofit Literacy Pittsburgh, told Technical.ly. That promise, Harris said, is a young, diverse workforce that can fill the gaps in Pittsburgh’s economy. 

Between 2010 and 2022, the immigrant share of the population in Pennsylvania rose by 35%, meaning it went from 1 in 17 residents being an immigrant to 1 in 13 residents.  

This increase in immigrant residents contributed to a 2% growth in Pennsylvania’s population, which is approximately 12 million people. Without this increase, Pennsylvania’s overall population would have declined, according to the Upwardly Global report. 

With this increase, immigrants are now contributing $4.4 billion in state and local taxes and have $34.2 billion in spending power. The significant contributions don’t stop there, as many are opening their own businesses, filling worker shortages and rejuvenating vacant neighborhoods, the report details. 

Altogether, it accounts for a big boost in not only economic development but also entrepreneurship. Immigrants can be a powerful force in the region, according to Monica Ruiz, executive director of Casa San Jose, a nonprofit resource center serving the Latino and immigrant community in Pittsburgh.

“Pittsburgh needs a lot more immigration than what it’s getting in order for us to be able to reach our full potential,” Ruiz told Technical.ly. 

Immigrants start their businesses, boosting local entrepreneurship

New businesses are the main driver of job growth and immigrants open businesses at much higher rates than the US population overall, meaning immigrant residents can have an outsized impact on the economy. 

In the Pittsburgh metro area, there were over 3,700 immigrant entrepreneurs, according to the American Immigration Council. Immigrants were 26% more likely to be entrepreneurs than US-born residents. 

Across the Great Lakes region, 13% of entrepreneurs are immigrants and they have generated $9.7 billion for the region’s economy, according to Upwardly Global.

“Just as immigrants drove major innovations and community growth at the turn of the 20th century,” said Jina Krause-Vilmar, president and CEO of Upwardly Global, “immigrants and refugees use their skills and talents to help the nation adapt to change today.”

For example, Beechview in Pittsburgh, home to Casa San Jose, has seen an explosion of new businesses over the last decade and immigrants are to thank, Ruiz said. 

The economic impact, however, is just one part of the story. Immigrants also build strong cultural communities. 

When immigrants resettle in a new country, they identify what their community needs and try to fill the gap, said Becky Johnson, director of career services for Pittsburgh’s Jewish Family Community Services (JFCS). 

“The reason why it’s so important is because they’re creating businesses, paying taxes and helping to put fiber into our regional economy, but they’re able to do it with a cultural competency and language focus for their community members,” Johnson said. 

More workers to rebuild the manufacturing industry

The Great Lakes region was once the epicenter of steel, auto and rubber manufacturing, but the nature of these jobs are changing.

The Upwardly Global report found immigrants often work the hard-to-fill factory jobs in the region, occupying 42% of meat processing jobs and 31% of hand-pack jobs. In Pittsburgh, factory jobs are a vital part of the regional economy. 

Immigrants also serve an outsized role in healthcare. This means they can have a large impact in Pittsburgh where there is a 76% higher concentration of healthcare jobs compared to the national average.

In Pennsylvania at large, immigrants are stepping up to fill the healthcare worker shortage in nearly 50% of the state’s counties. Approximately 25% of physicians and 7% of nurses in Pennsylvania are immigrants, according to the American Immigration Council’s data. 

As a result, immigrants now make up 9.7% of Pennsylvania’s labor force, according to the American Immigrant Council. 

In Pittsburgh, JFCS has had strong success connecting immigrants and refugees to these industries, especially with heightened demand for healthcare workers in the city, Johnson said. 

Immigration advocacy groups have also taken notice of these ongoing industry trends and are adding services to meet current demand. For example, more workforce programming and English language education at Literacy Pittsburgh and Casa San Jose’s multi-million dollar expansion of its community center.

Economic impact dampened by hiring disadvantages

Pittsburgh can be an attractive choice for immigrants because of its fairly affordable housing,  proximity to economic opportunities and its designation as a Certified Welcoming city. However, immigration advocates say barriers persist, making it difficult for some to find economic stability. 

Pittsburgh is still a “very English-centric” city, Harris said. This can pose a problem for immigrants seeking access to resources that may only be offered in English and not their native languages. 

Approximately 14% of Pittsburgh’s immigrant population has limited English language proficiency, according to data from the American Immigration Council. 

Plus, even immigrants who have a higher education can still struggle to find employment. Two million immigrants and refugees with college degrees remain unemployed or underemployed in the US, according to a 2021 study from the Migration Policy Institute. 

That’s partially because re-credentialing, the process immigrants might have to go through to verify and update their professional licenses, can be an especially difficult process, according to Harris. 

“We have a lot of newcomers who might have been a doctor or a nurse,” Harris said. “Maybe you’re a teacher in your own country and it’s not easy to re-credential in this country.” 

Plus, if immigrants are asked for proof of education, it can be nearly impossible to get. For example, Johnson said she’s known employers to ask refugees from war-torn countries for high school transcripts. 

“Their high school doesn’t even exist anymore and because they can’t get a copy of that transcript, they are shut out from working for certain employers,” she said.

What can help lessen these barriers is educating HR professionals and employers who may be misinformed about documentation and how to legally hire an immigrant resident, which Johnson said is another key component of her work. 

And, of course, stigma against immigrants persists, but it’s getting better, advocates said. 

“Within the last 10 years… [Pittsburgh’s] demographics have been changing,” Ruiz said. “There are some people that are more welcome to that idea than others, and I think that we’re seeing a lot of that right now, where people are maybe starting to accept that change.”

This story, and all of Technical.ly's immigration reporting, is made possible by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund.

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund supports catalytic efforts to create more inclusive economies for immigrants and refugees in the US and Canada. It works closely with organizations and leaders focused on ensuring more equitable access to opportunity and wealth.