Quiz: Immigrants in the U.S. Workforce

The correct answer is: 19%

As of 2024, about 15% of the U.S. population were immigrants, and this population comprised about 19% of the U.S. workforce.  

In Massachusetts, according to Commonwealth Beacon, immigrants make up about 20% of the state's workers, "including about 26% of the state’s entrepreneurs, 30% of STEM workers, and 16% of nurses.”

In New Hampshire, according to NHPR, immigrants comprise about 6% of the state’s population and 7% of its workforce, and are more likely to have college degrees than those born in NH.  

The correct answer is: 18%

“In the health care sector, immigrants are 18.2% of all workers, including 26.5% of physicians and surgeons, 16% of registered nurses, and 23.1% of health care support staff, ”according to the Baker Institute for Public Policy.

In Massachusetts, one in four healthcare workers are immigrants. According to WGBH, “The share is even higher for home health aides, which had a 46% foreign-born workforce even before the recent influx of migrants to the state.” 

In New Hampshire, immigrant workers are helping to address a healthcare crisis caused by a rapidly aging population, which is increasing the need for long-term and intensive care at the same time that more workers are retiring.  

The correct answer is: All of the above

In the U.S., immigrants comprise roughly 27% of all agricultural workers, about 30% of construction workers, 19–23% of the overall STEM workforce, and 43% of doctorate-level scientists and engineers. 

Many major tech firms — including Google, NVIDIA, and Adobe — are headed by immigrant CEOs, and in fact, as of 2024, 46% of all Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. 

In addition, immigrants own about 19% of U.S. employer businesses and over one-third of restaurants and hospitality businesses, according to USA Facts. 

The correct answer is: $652 billion

A 2025 analysis by Axios, using the most recent available data from the American Immigration Council, reports that the 47.8 million immigrants in the U.S. paid nearly $652 billion in taxes in 2023.

The correct answer is: Many jobs remain unfilled, leading to significant labor shortages and business disruptions

Studies (like this one from Brookings), consistently show that jobs vacated by immigrants do not necessarily get filled by U.S.-born workers—especially in roles requiring physically demanding, low-wage, or less-desirable work. Instead, these sectors—including eldercare, agriculture, hospitality, and construction—tend to experience deeper labor shortages.  

Offshoring is rarely an option because these jobs must be performed locally, and while automation is advancing, most of these roles require the physical presence, human adaptability, and personal care that technology cannot replace.  

Currently, several groups of immigrants who entered the U.S. through legal humanitarian pathways are at risk of losing their work authorization, including: 

• Individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Venezuela who were legally admitted into the U.S. because of unsafe conditions in their home counties 

• Individuals admitted under humanitarian parole programs such as CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) and Uniting for Ukraine 

• Afghans evacuated by the U.S. military in 2021

Economists are already seeing signs that the labor force is not keeping pace with the dramatic loss of workers being caused by sudden changes in immigration policy. In Massachusetts, the loss of work permits among these groups has created dangerous staffing shortages in healthcare, eldercare, and hospitality in particular. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the state’s manufacturing and seasonal tourism sectors have been hit especially hard.