Larger Immigrant Populations Boost Cities’ Per Capita Income and Credit Rating

Contributed by Aaron Hall

According to Standard & Poor’s, large immigrant populations help cities’ per capita income and credit ratings.  This is contrary to the argument that immigrants would hurt a city’s credit rating either due to low income or due to use of municipal services.

Cities with larger immigrant populations see an increase of overall income activity and have a stabilizing impact on labor markets.

Fox News Latino reads the Standard & Poor’s report as countering “arguments made by some immigration critics that immigrants chew up state and local government funds and take jobs from U.S.-born workers, thus hurting local economies. It also gives impetus to cities like Dayton, Ohio that are bucking the trend of strict immigration laws in states like Arizona and Alabama and openly welcoming immigrants to their towns.”  Cities like Dayton which are derided by critics as “sanctuary cities” may simply be making sound policy for their economic futures.

Standard & Poor’s emphasized that “no city that has seen a large arrival of immigrants has seen its municipal credit rating downgraded because of the inflow.”

Further Reading:
Article on the Standard & Poor’s report at Fox News Latino
Debate about whether Denver is a sanctuary city
On the Denver Post Editorial about whether Denver is a sanctuary city