As Dolly Parton once said, “Workin’ nine to five, what a way to make a livin’” — but it’s not just Americans pouring themselves a cup of ambition. Over 1 million people came to work in the US via authorized channels in fiscal year 2024. However, the total for 2025 could be quite different considering the recent implementation of a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications. |
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Here’s a closer look at what types of work visas and green cards the US issues, who receives them, and the work they do.
- In FY 2024, 95.2% of work-related arrivals came on temporary visas, while 4.8% received green cards for work. (Employer-sponsored green cards can offer permanent residence, while temporary visas do not.)
- H-2A visas for temporary agricultural workers made up the largest share (315,328, or 29.1%) of all temporary visas in FY 2024. That’s more than 10 times greater than the 30,201 that were issued in FY 2000.
- Last year, 90.6% of temporary agricultural workers (285,781 people on H-2A visas) were from Mexico. Others came from South Africa (14,694, 4.7% of the total), Jamaica (4,718, 1.5%), and Guatemala (4,023, 1.3%).
- H-1B visas are for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher who work in such fields as engineering, mathematics, medicine, and health. In FY 2024, there were 219,659 of such workers, 20.2% of temporary visa holders that year. (Another 139,541 temporary non-agricultural workers on H-2B visas were hired for seasonal or peak-business periods, representing 12.9%.)
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- Workers from India (150,647) comprised 68.6% of H-1B recipients. They were followed by: China (31,735, 14.4% of the total), the Philippines (3,562, 1.6%), and South Korea (2,289, 1.0%).
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Who voted (and who didn’t) in 2024 |
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The 2024 presidential election drew 65.3% of voting-age US citizens to the polls — the third-highest turnout in the last 34 years. But not everyone showed up equally. From younger voters to folks in certain states, here’s a look at who participated and who sat this one out.
- Women voted at a higher rate than men in 2024: 61.0% vs. 57.4%. Women voters have outvoted men in every presidential election since 1980.
- Voters age 65 or older had the highest turnout at 74.7% — and were the only age group to exceed their 2020 turnout. People between the ages of 18 and 24 were the least likely to vote, at about 47.7%.
- Hispanic voters had the lowest turnout rate at 50.6%, then came Asian voters at 57.1%. The Black voter turnout rate was the second-highest at 59.6%, and white, non-Hispanic voters had the highest voting rate: 70.5%.
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- Among states, Minnesota had the highest voter turnout: 75.9%. It was followed by Oregon (75.3%), Virginia (72.9%), and New Jersey (72.5%). Washington, DC, had a higher rate than any state: 79.5%. Arkansas had the lowest, with a rate of 52.8%.
- Twenty-nine percent of voters voted by mail, while 30.7% voted early in-person. That’s nearly 60% of voters. Another 39.6% of voters went to the polls on Election Day.
- Early and mail-in voting was up 10 percentage points from 2022, but down nine from 2020, when states expanded early in-person and mail-in options during the pandemic.
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Illinois and Oregon officials have gone to court to prevent National Guard troops from other states from deploying to their cities. Read more about jurisdiction in US law enforcement. Listeria outbreaks have caused a California food company to recall thousands of cases of pastas that are used in meals sold at grocery stores nationwide. Think you know the facts? Then quiz yourself.
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During the 2021–2022 school year, the federal government provided 13.7% of public-school funding — that’s about one in every seven dollars. School districts in Mississippi (23.2% of district revenue), South Dakota (21.8%), and Arkansas (21.6%) relied more on federal funding than districts in other states. (And you can check your state right here.) |
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