The Fiscal Impact of Refugees and Asylees at the Federal, State and Local Levels from 2005 to 2019

Overall, this federal study finds that the net fiscal impact of refugees and asylees was positive over the 15-year period, at $123.8 billion. The net fiscal benefit to the federal government was estimated at $31.5 billion, and the net fiscal benefit to state and local governments was estimated at $92.3 billion. Including immediate family members, refugees and asylees still contributed a net fiscal benefit, estimated at $16.0 billion. While refugees, asylees, and their immediate families were a net contributor to the federal government, estimated at $37.5 billion, they were a net fiscal cost to state and local governments, estimated at $21.4 billion. The higher percentage of expenditures paid by state and local governments for immediate families is in large part due to higher K-12 education expenditures for the children of refugees and asylees who were born in the United States. Local governments spend substantially more on K-12 education than the federal government spends, and as a result, most of the net impact of including spouses and children is observed at the state and local level.
This study found that governmental expenditures on refugees and asylees totaled an estimated $457.2 billion over the 15-year period. Expenditures by the federal government represented 72.5 percent of the total, at $331.5 billion. State and local government expenditures were 27.5 percent of the total, at $125.7 billion. Including immediate family members, expenditures for refugees and asylees totaled $723.4 billion.
Refugees and asylees with 10 or more years of residency had approximately the same level of income as the total U.S. population. Through payroll, income, and excise taxes, refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $363 billion to the federal government, and through income, sales, and property taxes they contributed $218 billion to state and local governments. To all levels of government combined, refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue. Including immediate family members, refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $739 billion in revenue.