While Detroit’s population keeps slipping, immigrants have added 4,000 new residents to the city and have created or saved more than 1,000 jobs by creating new businesses in Motown.
That’s the conclusion of a report issued today by Global Detroit, a nonprofit group that advocates for the tri-county area’s immigrant population.
The newest U.S. Census figures show the Motor City’s population gradually sliding to a new low as the 23rd-largest city in the nation. But the growth of the immigrant population rose at a 12.1 percent annual rate from 2012-14. That has helped the city’s decline to slow after big losses over several decades.
Immigrant residents still only account for 5.6 percent of the city’s residents, but they make an outsized contribution to the local economy through their high rates of entrepreneurship. About 15 percent of the self-employed population in the city is foreign born, nearly three times their overall share of the populace, according to the report, which was co-produced by the advocacy group New American Economy.
To put it another way, foreign-born residents – mostly Hispanics and Asians — are twice as likely as U.S.-born residents to create a business.
“Detroit is an early pioneer in the rapidly emerging field of immigrant community and economic development, and the data released today suggests that our efforts are paying dividends in population growth, business creation, and jobs,” said Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit.
From 2010-14, immigrant-owned companies in Detroit generated $15.5 million in business income and they helped create or preserve about 1,800 manufacturing jobs. In 2014, immigrants in Detroit paid $92.4 million in federal taxes, and $53.7 million in state and local taxes. They also represented nearly $500 million in spending power.
Foreign-born residents tend to have higher educational levels than native Detroiters but retaining international students at Detroit area universities remains a challenge. The Global Detroit report concluded that even if the city could retain one half of its international students who attain a bachelor’s degree or higher, only approximately 550 jobs would be created within six years and the Motor City’s population would rise long term, over the next 50 years, by only 6,200 people.
