Immigrants Matter to Michigan
Population
Immigration is responsible for all of our state’s aggregate population growth. Whether you look back to 2000, 2010 or 2020, without immigration our state would have lost population.
Since the 2020 Census, Michigan’s immigrant population has grown by more than 164,000, which exceeds the state’s total population growth of about 61,000.
In the absence of immigration, Michigan would have about 100,000 fewer residents today than in 2020.
The importance of immigrants to Michigan’s economy is indisputable.
In the face of population loss and an aging workforce, local companies and communities are grappling with critical labor shortages in broad sectors of the Michigan economy. To increase our state’s population and ensure we have employees to meet diverse business needs, immigration is more essential than ever.
Immigrants come to Michigan to pursue their own American Dreams, bringing individual skills and talents in addition to unique perspectives. In the process, they contribute tremendous value to our economy, enhance the global competitiveness of Michigan’s companies, and build prosperity for Michigan families and communities.
Economic and Tax Contributions
In 2022, immigrants in Michigan earned $31.3 billion, contributing $5.5 billion to federal taxes and $2.6 billion to state and local taxes.
Immigrants contributed $67.8 billion to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP), or 9.9% of total GDP for 2022.
STEM Workforce
Immigrations comprised 18.6% of Michigan workers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in 2022.
Immigrants provide critical labor to some of Michigan’s most important industries, accounting for 28.2% of all Michigan’s software developers and 24.3% of its mechanical engineers (to name just two critical professions).
Entrepreneurship
46,200 immigrants in Michigan are entrepreneurs. Their businesses produced $1.4 billion in business income in 2022.
Immigrants represented 11.1% of the business owners in the state in 2022 despite making up 6.9% of the population.
International Students
Michigan is home to more than 38,000 international students, with the eighth-largest international student population among the 50 states.
These students contribute $1.455 billion annually to the Michigan economy through spending on tuition, rent, food, entertainment, goods, and services.
International students comprise approximately half of all the graduate students in the US studying in STEM fields and over 70% of such critical fields as electrical engineering, software development, and computer science.
Further Reading
The Economic Contributions of New Americans in Michigan, joint report by the American Immigration Council and the Michigan Global Talent Initiative
May 2024
The Economic Contributions of New Americans in Michigan, joint report of the Immigrant Research Initiative, Michigan Global Talent Initiative and Michigan League for Public Policy
August 2023
Talent and Workforce
Although immigrants made up 6.9% of the state’s total population, they represented 8.4% of its working age population and employed labor force.
Immigrants were 24.1% more likely to be of working age than their U.S.-born counterparts, allowing them to actively participate in the labor force and contribute to the economy as taxpayers and consumers.