Migration & Economy
Migration & Economy is a data page on the Immigration desk of Glassbox Auditing. Every immigration measure against its own history, workers born abroad and the job market, how much of population growth comes from migration, and what prediction markets expect. Immigration feeds the labour force, consumer and housing demand, and federal revenue.
Last updated: .
What is on this page today?
- Foreign-born labour force: 33.12 million in October 2026 — born abroad: 19.4% of the labour force · Current Population Survey, not seasonally adjusted (BLS, 30 Oct 2026)
- Unemployment among workers born abroad: 3.2% in October 2026 — native-born 4.1% · not seasonally adjusted (BLS, 30 Oct 2026)
- Personal remittances sent abroad from the U.S.: $107B in 2025, +1.2% on 2024 — the highest year on record (1970-2025) · typical yearly move ±13.9% · personal transfers and pay sent to people abroad (World Bank, 30 Dec 2025)
- Residents born abroad: 14.7% in 2025, -0.0 points on 2024 — 50.41 million people · one-year estimates (none for 2020) (Census Bureau American Community Survey, 30 Dec 2025)
- Net international migration: 1.26 million in the year to July 2025, -54% on 2024 — 71% of the population's growth · 3.7 per 1,000 residents · estimates from 2021 on are built on the 2020 census (Census Bureau population estimates, 30 Jun 2025)
- New green cards: 1,364,090 in fiscal 2024, +16% on 2023 — 1,172,910 in 2023 (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
- People naturalized as citizens: 818,570 in fiscal 2024, -7% on 2023 — 878,460 in 2023 (DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 29 Sep 2024)
Where does the data come from?
Items on this page come from BLS; World Bank; Census Bureau American Community Survey; Census Bureau population estimates; DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Each item links to its own source. All sources, how items are checked.
What does this page lead to?
- Labor Market (Macro): Immigrants add to the labour force; when net migration is high, payrolls can grow faster without pulling unemployment down, and when it falls the job growth needed to hold unemployment steady falls too. (moves the same way; months; economy scale) Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Prices & Inflation (Macro): More workers ease wage pressure in industries that rely on immigrants (farms, construction, food service), while new residents add demand for housing and goods; the net effect on prices depends on which is larger. (either way, depending on the cause; months to years; economy scale) Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Credit & Housing (Macro): Population growth from migration adds households, raising demand for rentals and homes, most in the metros where immigrants settle. (moves the same way; years; economy scale) Source: Census population estimates (net international migration).
- Budget & Spending (Macro): CBO counts immigrants' taxes and benefit costs; its 2024 estimate found the 2022-2024 surge would lower federal deficits over ten years, mainly through added tax revenue. (either way, depending on the cause; years; economy scale) Source: Congressional Budget Office (budget categories).
- Business Activity (Macro): Immigrants start businesses at higher rates than the U.S.-born, so faster migration tends to add to new business applications. (moves the same way; years; economy scale) Source: U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics (business applications by state).
- US Map (Domestic Intelligence): Immigrants are concentrated in a few states (California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey), so changes in migration move those states' labour force and population most. (moves the same way; years; economy scale) Source: Census ACS table B05002 (place of birth).
- Polymarket (Markets): Prediction markets price deportation and border-policy questions; the page shows their odds beside the measured flows. (either way, depending on the cause; same day; sector scale) Source: Polymarket (public blockchain trades and wallet profiles).
What feeds this page?
- Well-being (Domestic Intelligence): Net international migration in the Census components of change is the immigration part of each state's population growth, the labor supply Migration & Economy tracks. (moves the same way; 1 year; economy scale) Source: Census Bureau population estimates (components of change).
- Labor Market (Macro): Strong hiring with few unemployed per opening draws in foreign-born workers, whose share of the labor force is tracked beside immigration flows. (moves the same way; months to years; economy scale) Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Polymarket (Markets): Polymarket's immigration markets (deportations, border policy) are charted on Migration & Economy beside the labor data that policy reaches. (either way, depending on the cause; same day; economy scale) Source: Polymarket (public blockchain trades and wallet profiles).