Immigrants' Role in Entrepreneurship

Immigrants far outpaced native-born Americans in entrepreneurial activity last year while African Americans were the only major ethnic or racial group to experience a year-to-year increase in the rate of entrepreneurship, according to a national assessment of entrepreneurial activity by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The rate of entrepreneurial activity for immigrants in 2005 was 0.35 percent compared to 0.28 percent for native-born Americans, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. In other words, approximately 350 out of 100,000 immigrants started a business per month in 2005 compared to 280 out of 100,000 native-born Americans. These rates represent approximately 85,000 immigrants creating new businesses per month and 379,000 native-born individuals creating new businesses per month.

Source: Kauffman Foundation