Immigrants' Presence in the Labor Force

Immigrants among Low- and High-Educated Workers

Immigrants accounted for 20.1 percent of civilian employed workers with no high school degree and for 6.4 percent of college-educated workers age 25 and older.*
There were 2,418,634 civilian employed workers age 25 and older in Tennessee in 2010. Immigrants made up 6.3 percent (or 152,383) of these workers.

Of all low-educated workers age 25 and older employed in Tennessee in 2010, 20.1 percent (or 42,121) were immigrants. Among the college-educated workforce, immigrants accounted for 6.4 percent (or 46,177).

Region of Birth and Year of Arrival

The largest share of foreign-born workers in Tennessee were from Latin America.
Of the total foreign-born, civilian employed population age 16 and older in Tennessee in 2011, 9.4 percent were from Africa, 24.7 percent from Asia, 11.0 percent from Europe, 51.5 percent from Latin America (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean), 3.0 percent from Northern America (Canada, Bermuda, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon), and 0.3 percent from Oceania.

At the national level, 4.3 percent of foreign-born, civilian employed workers were from Africa, 28.3 percent from Asia, 10.7 percent from Europe, 54.5 percent from Latin America, 1.8 percent from Northern America, and 0.4 percent from Oceania.

Of immigrant workers in Tennessee, 56.8 percent entered the country before 2000 and 43.2 percent entered in 2000 or later.
Of the foreign-born, civilian employed population age 16 and older in Tennessee in 2011, 56.8 percent entered the country prior to 2000 and 43.2 percent entered in 2000 or later.

Nationally, 67.6 percent of foreign-born, civilian employed workers entered the country before 2000 and 32.4 percent entered in 2000 or later.

Citizenship Status

Of immigrant workers in Tennessee in 2011, 35.1 percent were naturalized citizens, and 64.9 percent were noncitizens.
Of foreign-born, civilian employed workers age 16 and older in Tennessee, 35.1 percent were naturalized citizens, and 64.9 percent were noncitizens. There was a change of 104.2 percent in the number of naturalized citizen workers between 2000 and 2011.

At the national level, 46.4 percent of foreign-born, civilian employed workers were naturalized citizens and 53.6 percent were noncitizens.

Top Three Industries and Occupations

The top three industries of immigrant workers in Tennessee were arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services; manufacturing; and educational services, and health care and social assistance.
Of the foreign-born, civilian employed population age 16 and older (184,623) in Tennessee in 2011, 15.9 percent worked in arts, entertainment, and recreation, and accommodation and food services, 15 percent in manufacturing, and 14.7 percent in educational services, and health care and social assistance. In comparison, among the native-born, civilian employed population age 16 and older (2,599,839), 23.1 percent worked in educational services, and health care and social assistance, 12.8 percent in manufacturing, and 12.6 percent in retail trade.

At the national level, the top three industries of the foreign born were educational services, and health care and social assistance (18.9 percent); arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services (12.5 percent); professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (12.3 percent).

The top three occupations of immigrant workers in Tennessee were management, business, science, and arts occupations; service occupations; and sales and office occupations.
Of the foreign-born, civilian employed population age 16 and older (184,623) in Tennessee in 2011, 27.9 percent worked in management, business, science, and arts occupations, 23.3 percent in service occupations, and 16.7 percent in sales and office occupations. In comparison, among the native-born civilian employed population age 16 and older (2,599,839), 33.5 percent worked in management, business, science, and arts occupations, 25.9 percent in sales and office occupations, and 16.6 percent in service occupations.

At the national level, the top three occupations of the foreign born were management, professional, and related occupations (28.8 percent); service occupations (25.5 percent); and sales and office occupations (17.5 percent).

Skill Underutilization of College-Educated Immigrants*

Brain waste affected 9,433 college-educated immigrants in Tennessee.**
In 2010, there were 9,433 college-educated immigrants who were either unemployed or working in unskilled jobs such as dishwashers, security guards, and housemaids - representing 19.5 percent of the college-educated immigrant labor force in Tennessee. Among the native-born college-educated persons, 118,620 (or 16.7 percent) were underutilized.

Nationally, 22.5 percent of college-educated immigrants (or 1,565,742 ) were underutilized compared to 16.5 percent of college-educated natives (or 6,126,303 ).

*Refers to persons 25 and older with at least a Bachelor's degree.
**The terms "brain waste" and "skill underutilization" are used interchangeably and describe a phenomenon when college-educated persons are either unemployed or employed in unskilled jobs, i.e., jobs that require only moderate on-the-job training or less such as construction laborers, taxi drivers, file clerks, nannies. Data source: three-year merged 2009-2011 ACS file; the reference year is assumed to be 2010; The letter N indicates that the number of sample cases was too small to be reported.

For more information about brain waste in the United States, see MPI's report titled Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States.

Spoken Languages and English Proficiency

Of the total civilian employed population (native and foreign born) in Tennessee in 2011, 4.5 percent spoke Spanish, 1.5 percent spoke other Indo-European languages, and 1.0 percent spoke Asian or Pacific Island languages
Among all civilian employed workers age 16 and older, 92.4 percent spoke only English, 4.5 percent spoke Spanish at home, 1.5 percent spoke other Indo-European languages, 1.0 percent spoke Asian and Pacific Island languages, and 0.6 percent spoke other languages.

At the national level, 79.0 percent of all civilian employed workers spoke only English, 12.8 percent spoke Spanish at home, 3.8 percent spoke other Indo-European languages, 3.5 percent spoke Asian and Pacific Island languages, and 0.9 percent spoke other languages.

In 2011, 3.6 percent of civilian employed workers in Tennessee were limited English proficient.
In Tennessee in 2011, 3.6 percent of all civilian employed workers age 16 and older (both native and foreign born) were limited English proficient, meaning that they reported speaking English less than "very well" on their American Community Survey questionnaire (see Table 2).

At the national level, 9.1 percent of all civilian employed workers were limited English proficient in 2011.

In Tennessee, 61.4 percent of those who spoke only English were in the labor force, compared to 76.8 percent of those who spoke Spanish at home and 70.8 percent of those who spoke Asian and Pacific Island languages at home.
Among the total population age 25 and older in Tennessee in 2011 (both native and foreign-born), 61.4 percent of those who spoke only English were in the labor force, compared to 76.8 percent of those who spoke Spanish at home, 67.3 percent who spoke other Indo-European languages at home, 70.8 percent who spoke Asian and Pacific Island languages at home, and 80.1 percent who spoke other languages at home (see Table 5).

At the national level, 64.5 percent of people age 25 and older who spoke only English were in the labor force, compared to 69.9 percent of those who spoke Spanish at home, 63.8 percent who spoke other Indo-European languages at home, 68.2 percent who spoke Asian and Pacific Island languages at home, and 66.6 percent who spoke other languages at home.