May 20, 2020

Dear John,

With hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices on the frontlines of the pandemic response, immigrants are playing a key role in both high-skilled and health-care support jobs in this sector. Immigrants represent nearly 18 percent of the estimated 14.7 million people working in a health-care occupation in the United States. But these 2.6 million workers account for far larger shares in certain occupations:

• 28 percent of all U.S. physicians
• 24 percent of dentists
• 38 percent of home health aides
• 26 percent of personal care aides

Their role can be even more significant at the state level. For example, while immigrants are just 8 percent of all workers in Michigan, they account for 28 percent of its doctors and surgeons. They are 39 percent of physicians in New Jersey, 38 percent in Nevada, and 36 percent in Florida and New York.

In a new data-rich article, we explore the role of immigrant health-care workers in the United States, and offer detailed state-level data on their employment by health-care occupation. We also take a look at employment in select health-care occupations for both the U.S.-born and immigrant populations, and by gender.

And for an interesting look at India—which has long been the world’s top exporter of physicians to other countries—check out this feature from our online journal, the Migration Information Source.

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The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, D.C. dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org.