February 14, 2017
As elected officials decide how to reform U.S. immigration policy at the behest of President Donald Trump, an analyis of state economies reveals that New Jersey relies heavily on foreign-born workers.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, released a study Tuesday that breaks down the economic impact of immigration in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., determining that New Jersey has the second-highest economic boost from immigrants in the nation, behind only California.
To discover which states benefited most - and least - from immigration, researchers weighed 18 key factors including jobs created by foreign-born business owners, the number of work visas, the share of the immigrant population.
The Garden State secured the top spot in the study's "Brain Gain & Innovators" category. The honor was earned by the state's abundance of foreign-born residents with college degrees who work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
Furthermore, New Jersey's rank was bolstered by its overall share of immigrant workers and business owners.
Pennsylvania, meanwhile, was listed as the 17th state that benefits the most economically from immigration.
New York, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. rounded out the top five while Mississippi ranked last.
