The Skanner: New Data Shows the Economic Benefits of Immigrants in Seattle

Last week, the City of Seattle joined with the bipartisan immigration advocacy coalition New American Economy (NAE) in their nationwide release of new research on the contributions of immigrants in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Area. The research, dubbed Map the Impact highlights the significant economic contributions of immigrants and the critical need for immigration reform. For instance, immigrants paid $6.5 billion in state and local taxes and held $16.9 billion in spending power in 2014.

Mayor Ed Murray has long touted the benefits of welcoming immigrants and refugees. It is not only the right thing to do, it also makes smart economic sense. Last week, Mayor Murray’s State of the City speech made the link between Seattle’s welcoming city values and the city’s economic success, success that is shared across the nation. “We are a welcoming city for thousands of new Americans, and, together with the other nine largest welcoming cities in America, account for one-third of the country’s gross domestic product.”

Map the Impact provides business, civic, and cultural leaders with new data on immigrant populations in all 435 Congressional Districts and 50 metro areas. Featured in an interactive map that also includes state- and sector-specific data, NAE quantifies every locality’s foreign-born population, tax contributions, spending power, home ownership, and voting power, among other items.

Read the full story from The Skanner: “New Data Shows the Economic Benefits of Immigrants in Seattle”
Visit MapThe Impact.org