Entrepreneurship
Are immigrants more likely to start businesses?
Yes. Immigrants are more likely to become entrepreneurs than U.S.-born Americans. Immigrants play an outsized role in business creation and are a crucial part of the U.S. economy.Today, immigrants make up 23.6% of all entrepreneurs nationwide, even though they account for just 14.3% of the U.S. population.
Immigrant entrepreneurs start businesses ranging from neighborhood small shops to some of the largest and most successful companies in the country, including a significant portion of Fortune 500 businesses. They create jobs, generate income, and contribute to economic growth in communities across the United States.
What kind of businesses do immigrants start?
Immigrants start businesses across virtually every sector of the U.S. economy. They are particularly prominent in industries including accommodations and food services, construction, professional services, transportation, retail, and healthcare.For example, immigrants make up one-third of entrepreneurs in the accommodations and food services industry, as well as 26.6% of entrepreneurs in construction.
Immigrant entrepreneurs also start and build companies that grow far beyond the small-business stage. Some of America’s best-known corporations — such as Amazon, Apple, NVIDIA, and Levi Strauss & Co. — were founded by immigrants or their children.
How many people do immigrant-owned businesses employ?
Immigrant-owned businesses provide millions of jobs for American workers. The latest data shows the significant role immigrant-owned and immigrant-founded businesses play in job creation.The impact is especially visible among the country’s biggest and most valuable companies. In the 2025 Fortune 500, a total of 231 companies — nearly half of all Fortune 500 companies — were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants.
These companies include businesses founded directly by immigrants as well as companies founded by the children of immigrants. Of the 231 New American Fortune 500 companies in 2025, 109 were founded by immigrants and 122 were founded by children of immigrants.
Do immigrants create jobs?
Yes. Immigrant entrepreneurs are job creators. New businesses are a major source of job growth in the United States, and immigrants play a particularly important role in business creation.Our research shows that immigrant-founded businesses often grow into major employers and economic engines. Nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Collectively, these companies employed more than 15.4 million people worldwide and generated $8.6 trillion in revenue in fiscal year 2024.
Immigrant entrepreneurship benefits more than the entrepreneurs themselves: immigrant-founded and immigrant-owned businesses create opportunities for workers, support local economies, and contribute to innovation and economic growth. They have been especially helpful as baby boomers retire, fueling growth in sectors that would have otherwise seen major declines.
How do immigrants contribute to America’s biggest companies?
Immigrants and their children have founded some of America's most influential companies — and their presence among the nation's largest businesses continues to grow.In 2025, 46.2% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, the highest share recorded by the Council since we began tracking immigrant-founded Fortune 500 companies in 2011.
Among the 14 companies appearing on the Fortune 500 for the first time in 2025, a total of 10 were founded by immigrants or their children. This included companies rising in the ranks of the Fortune 500, like Ace Hardware and Sirius XM Holdings.
Immigrant-founded and immigrant-descended companies are particularly prominent in major industries. They account for 80% of Fortune 500 companies in professional and other services, 65.6% in manufacturing, and 57.5% in information.
Why are immigrants more likely to become entrepreneurs?
There’s no single reason immigrants have higher rates of entrepreneurship. Starting a business can provide immigrants with an opportunity to use their skills in their new home, pursue economic mobility for themselves and their families, and serve needs in their communities.Immigrants also bring skills, knowledge, experiences, and connections from around the world. Their businesses range from local ventures to companies that operate on a global scale.
It’s worth noting, however, that the United States doesn’t have a dedicated visa specifically for immigrant entrepreneurs, despite relying heavily on their contributions. This gap can make it difficult for promising foreign entrepreneurs to establish and grow businesses in the United States — even when they have the resources and ideas to do so. Coupled with increasingly restrictive U.S. immigration policies, it has become even more difficult to drive international talent to this country.
Supporting immigrant entrepreneurs — and creating streamlined pathways that allow talented entrepreneurs to build and grow businesses in the United States — can help strengthen the U.S. economy, provide jobs to Americans, and build up local communities.
America Needs to Know: Immigrant Businesses Add $780 Billion to U.S. Economy, Says Hispanic Chamber CEO
Javier Palomarez is the president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The chamber represents 4.2 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, which collectively contribute $668 billion to the national economy. “We represent 271 major corporations and work with a network of 200 local… Read More
Stanford Business School Grad Hopes Reform Will Allow Him to Keep Company in Silicon Valley
Russian-born immigrant, recent Stanford Graduate School of Business graduate, and entrepreneur Misha Esipov, 28, is “on a mission to improve immigrant lending around the world” and “build a cross-border credit bureau to connect U.S. lenders to international data.” His company, Nova Credit Inc., is developing an international credit passport system that allows people’s… Read More
Stanford Business School Grad Hopes Reform Will Allow Him to Keep Company in Silicon Valley
Russian-born immigrant, recent Stanford Graduate School of Business graduate, and entrepreneur Misha Esipov, 28, is “on a mission to improve immigrant lending around the world” and “build a cross-border credit bureau to connect U.S. lenders to international data.” His company, Nova Credit Inc., is developing an international credit passport system… Read More
Immigrant Auto Dealership CEO Wants a Merit-Based Immigration System
When Bernie Moreno’s mother decided to leave her native Colombia and bring her seven children, husband, and 22 suitcases to the United States, it wasn’t to escape a life of poverty. She wanted to avoid a life of entitlement. Worried that her children would grow up too comfortable in an… Read More
First-Generation American Entrepreneur Needs Immigration Reform to Compete Globally
As Argentine immigrants, Betty Manetta’s parents worked long hours in factory jobs to put their daughters through private school. Witnessing her parents’ work ethic and their belief that education is the key to success, cultivated a drive in Manetta. After high school, she worked for Western Electric, put herself through… Read More
U.S. Economy Can’t Win Without Guest Workers, Says Arizona Business Consultant
Republican Jaime Molera, founding partner of Phoenix consultancy Molera Alvarez, says a strong business climate depends on immigration reform. “When Arizona was going through a number of challenging policy issues, like the infamous and controversial Senate Bill 1070” — a law requiring police to determine the immigration status of… Read More
The Foreign-Born in Des Moines
New American Economy has developed a series of research briefs that examine the demographic and economic contributions of immigrant communities in counties and cities across the United States. The latest report in the series focuses on Des Moines. The brief shows that 48,760 immigrant residents in Des Moines–who account for roughly… Read More
New Americans in Houston
The Partnership for a New American Economy has developed a series of research briefs that examine the demographic and economic contributions of immigrant communities in counties and cities across the United States. The latest report in the series focuses on Houston, Texas. The brief shows that Houston’s 1.3 million… Read More
Texas Mayor: America Can’t Turn its Back on Immigrants ‘We Invited’ Here ‘Through Our Conduct’
Austin, Texas, is known for being one of the most creative, innovative cities in the United States. It’s why Steve Adler is so proud to be the city’s mayor — and he knows that to maintain the city’s vibrancy it needs to celebrate its immigrant residents. In Austin,… Read More
Pakistani Immigrant, Navy Reservist, Successful Businessman Believes in a “Nation of Optimism and Ideas”
When Ali Samana came to the United States from Pakistan as a 13-year old, he immediately adopted America as his home. “This is my country of choice,” he says. “I make a conscious choice every day to be an American.” Nearly 20 years later, Samana is a U.S. citizen, a… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
