- Fact Sheet
New Americans in Androscoggin County
Published
New research from the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants in Androscoggin County paid over $24.0 million in taxes and held over $74.0 million in spending power in 2019. The new report, New Americans in Androscoggin County, was prepared in partnership with University of Southern Maine’s Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Impact and Career and Employment Hub.
The report also features four profiles of community members: Amran Osman, Bianca Arcencio, Marwo Sougue, and Prudent Ndihokubwayo.
In 2019, more than 4,000 immigrants lived in Androscoggin County, accounting for 3.9 percent of the total population. Immigrants represented 4.4 percent of its working age population, despite making up 3.9 percent of the county’s overall population.
The report was produced as part of the Council’s and Welcoming America’s Gateways for Growth Challenge, which includes tailored research on the local immigrant population.
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Immigrants actively participate in the labor force. In 2019, immigrants in Androscoggin County were 14.7 percent more likely to be of working age than their U.S.-born counterparts, positioning them to actively contribute to the economy as taxpayers and consumers.
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Immigrants are poised to contribute to the county’s economy across the skills spectrum. In 2019, 27.6 percent of immigrants held a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 22.3 percent of their U.S.-born counterparts. In that same year, 24.7 percent of immigrants had less than a high school education, compared to 9.8 percent of U.S.-born residents, uniquely positioning immigrants to fill jobs both with and without degree requirements.
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Immigration is helping drive population growth in Androscoggin County. Immigrants account for 11.9 percent of the population growth in Androscoggin County between 2014 and 2019. Without immigrants moving to the county, the total population would have decreased by 0.5 percent.
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Immigrants support the federal safety net. In 2019, immigrants in Androscoggin County contributed $8.6 million to Social Security and $2.3 million to Medicare.
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Immigrants in Androscoggin County help create or preserve local manufacturing jobs. Immigrants strengthened the local job market by allowing companies to keep jobs on U.S. soil and helped preserve or create 200 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise been eliminated or moved elsewhere by 2019.