Immigrants in Georgia |  American Immigration Council

Georgia has a sizeable immigrant community, many of whom come from Mexico. One in 10 Georgians was born in another country, while one in 13 residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent. The state benefits from the diverse participation of foreign-born residents in the economy and labor market, with immigrants making up a quarter of all farmers, fishermen and foresters in the state and a quarter of computer science and mathematics employees. As neighbors, business owners, taxpayers and workers, immigrants are an integral part of Georgia's diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit everyone.

One in ten Georgia residents is an immigrant, while 7 percent of residents are native-born U.S. citizens with at least one immigrant parent.

  • In 2018, 1.1 million immigrants (foreign-born individuals) made up 10 percent of the population.
  • Georgia was home to 502,347 women, 493,737 men, and 67,989 children who were immigrants.
  • The main countries of origin of immigrants were Mexico (22 percent of immigrants), India (9 percent), Jamaica (4 percent), Korea (4 percent) and Guatemala (4 percent).
  • In 2018, 717,062 people in Georgia (7 percent of the state's population) were native-born Americans who had at least one immigrant parent.

More than two in five immigrants in Georgia are naturalized U.S. citizens.

  • 480,192 immigrants (45 percent) naturalized in 2018, and 182,406 immigrants were eligible to become naturalized U.S. citizens in 2017.
  • More than three-quarters (78 percent) of immigrants reported speaking English “well” or “very well.”

Immigrants in Georgia are concentrated at both ends of the educational spectrum.

  • More than a third (35 percent) of immigrant adults had a college degree or higher education in 2018, while a quarter (25 percent) had less than a high school diploma.

Education level

Share (%) of all immigrants

Proportion (%) of all natives

University degree or higher

35

31

Some college

18

29

High school diploma only

22

29

Less than a high school diploma

25

10

Source: US Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.

More than 236,000 U.S. residents in Georgia live with at least one family member who is undocumented.

  • 400,000 undocumented immigrants made up 36 percent of the immigrant population and 4 percent of the total state population in 2016.
  • 503,155 people in Georgia, including 236,662 U.S. citizens, lived with at least one undocumented family member between 2010 and 2014.
  • During the same period, approximately one in 13 children in the state were U.S. citizens and lived with at least one undocumented family member (186,822 children total).

Georgia is home to nearly 21,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

  • As of March 2020, there were 20,610 active DACA recipients living in Georgia, while a total of 25,743 people have received DACA since 2012.
  • As of 2019, 48 percent of DACA-eligible immigrants in Georgia had applied for DACA.
  • Another 16,000 state residents would meet all but the educational requirements for DACA, and fewer than 2,000 would become eligible as they age.

One in eight workers in Georgia is an immigrant, who together make up a significant portion of the state's workforce across a range of industries.

  • 701,962 migrant workers made up 13 percent of the workforce in 2018.
  • Immigrant workers were most numerous in the following industries:

Industry

Number of immigrant workers

Manufacturing

99,559

construction

89,245

retail trade

84,638

Health care and social assistance

72,848

Accommodation and catering

63,971

Source: American Immigration Council analysis of one-year PUMS data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey.

  • The largest proportion of immigrant workers was in the following industries:

Industry

Proportion of immigrants (%)
(of all industrial workers)

construction

23

Other services (except public administration)

17

administrative support; waste management; and renovation services

16

Manufacturing

16

information

14

Source: American Immigration Council analysis of one-year PUMS data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey.

Immigrants are an integral part of Georgia's workforce in a number of occupations.

  • In 2018, migrant workers were most represented in the following professional groups:

Occupational category

Number of immigrant workers

Construction and extraction

77,966

production

68,321

management

67,532

Sales and related topics

67,197

Transportation and material handling

63,057

Source: American Immigration Council analysis of one-year PUMS data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey.

  • The largest proportion of immigrant workers was in the following occupational groups:

Occupational category

Proportion of immigrants (%)
(of all employees in the profession)

Construction and extraction

26

Computers and mathematics

25

Agriculture, fishing and forestry

25

Cleaning and maintenance of buildings and grounds

22

production

18

Source: American Immigration Council analysis of one-year PUMS data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey.

  • In 2016, undocumented immigrants made up 5 percent of Georgia's workforce.

Immigrants in Georgia have paid billions of dollars in taxes.

As consumers, immigrants contribute tens of billions of dollars to Georgia's economy.

  • Georgia residents in immigrant-headed households had purchasing power (after-tax income) of $26.3 billion in 2018.

Immigrant entrepreneurs in Georgia generate nearly $2 billion in business revenue.

  • 88,290 immigrant entrepreneurs made up 17 percent of all self-employed Georgia residents in 2018 and generated $1.8 billion in business income.
  • In 2018, nearly a quarter (23 percent) of business owners in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan area were immigrants.