Table 6 Immigrant Business Ownership is Closely Linked
to Immigrant Labor Force
Table 7 Ratio of Foreign-born to U.S.-born Business
Owners by Metro Area
2010 ACS
2010 ACS
Foreign-born Foreign- Foreign-born
Share of
born Share
Share of
Population of Labor Force Business Owners
New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
Philadelphia
Washington
Miami
Atlanta
Boston
San Francisco
Detroit
Riverside
Phoenix
Seattle
Minneapolis
San Diego
St. Louis
Tampa
Baltimore
Denver
Pittsburgh
Portland
San Antonio
Sacramento
25 MSAs Total
US Total
29%
34%
18%
18%
22%
9%
22%
39%
14%
16%
30%
8%
22%
14%
17%
10%
24%
5%
13%
9%
12%
3%
12%
12%
17%
21%
13%
36%
43%
22%
23%
29%
12%
28%
47%
18%
20%
36%
10%
30%
18%
20%
12%
29%
5%
16%
12%
14%
3%
15%
16%
21%
26%
16%
36%
44%
27%
25%
31%
14%
33%
45%
21%
15%
35%
17%
31%
18%
19%
11%
32%
8%
17%
21%
16%
4%
13%
25%
18%
28%
18%
Source: Immigrants Small Business Owners: A Significant and Growing Part of
the Economy, A Report from the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research
Initiative, June, 2012.
gateway cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Miami
(see Table 7).42
A walk through Highlandtown in Baltimore and Mexicantown in Detroit reveals the concentration of business
enterprises, particularly food markets and restaurants.
“I don’t think it’s any coincidence that southwest Detroit
is one of the only areas that is growing and has the most
independently-owned businesses,” said Enrique Razo, who
works with the Detroit community development organization SER Metro. “When you drive through a lot of the other
areas [of the city] there are lot of abandoned houses and
abandoned buildings. A lot of immigrants see these build8 Briefing Paper, October 2013
Business
Business
Ratio of
Owners as a
Owners as a Foreign-born
Share of U.S- Share of Foreign- to U.S.-born
born Labor Force born Labor Force
Share
Baltimore
Detroit
San Antonio
St. Louis
Chicago
Washington
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
San Diego
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Tampa
Los Angeles
Riverside
Phoenix
New York
Seattle
San Francisco
Minneapolis
Miami
Sacramento
Portland
Boston
25 Metro Areas
United States
3.0%
2.7%
2.1%
3.1%
3.3%
3.0%
3.8%
2.9%
2.5%
3.1%
2.5%
4.2%
2.4%
4.4%
3.5%
2.2%
3.3%
3.7%
3.8%
2.9%
3.5%
6.4%
2.4%
3.7%
3.0%
3.3%
3.1%
6.1%
5.1%
3.6%
4.7%
4.4%
3.8%
4.6%
3.5%
3.0%
3.5%
2.9%
4.7%
2.7%
4.8%
3.7%
2.3%
3.3%
3.7%
3.7%
2.7%
3.3%
5.8%
1.9%
3.0%
2.3%
3.7%
3.5%
2.1
1.9
1.7
1.5
1.3
1.3
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.0
1.0
1.0
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.8
0.8
0.8
1.1
1.1
Source: Immigrants Small Business Owners: A Significant and Growing Part of
the Economy, A Report from the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research
Initiative, June, 2012.
ings as an opportunity…It’s a different dynamic over here in
the southwest area…There’s a lot of revival going on.”
Business experts said that Mexicantown in southwest
Detroit is an ideal location for small entrepreneurs. “The
physical environment lends itself to offering a place where
businesses can thrive,” said Matt Bihun. “There’s greater
density in southwest Detroit, there are more young people,
there are generally homes with more children, there are fewer
vacancies.” Bihun said that immigrant entrepreneurship creates a “virtuous circle” of competition. “It’s a race upwards.
One person does a façade improvement for instance…then
all the five other restaurants do the façade improvements,