A new study has revealed a major earnings gap facing immigrant women in the United States, showing that first-generation immigrant women earned a median annual income of just $50,040 in 2023, the lowest among all gender and generational groups in the workforce.
The figure is $12,048 lower than the national median income of $62,088 for all workers in the country. Researchers say the findings expose deep structural barriers that continue to affect immigrant women, even as they work full-time in some of America’s most important industries including healthcare, education, finance, science, and engineering.
The research was conducted by the Law Offices of James A. Welcome, which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data covering full-time, year-round workers in 2023. The study examined earnings based on gender and generational status to compare immigrant workers with native-born Americans across similar employment categories.
According to the report, first-generation immigrant men earned a median annual income of $56,290, while immigrant workers overall earned $52,130. Both numbers remained significantly below the national median, highlighting what researchers described as a wage gap that persists regardless of occupation, industry, or geographic region.
The report placed a strong focus on immigrant women, who researchers say experience “compounded structural disadvantages” in the labor market. These include barriers tied to foreign credential recognition, occupational licensing rules, language proficiency challenges, and limited access to professional networks that often help workers secure higher-paying opportunities.
READ: 5.6 million immigrants are keeping America’s hospitals and schools running, study finds (May 7, 2026)
Researchers said many immigrant women arrive in the United States with professional qualifications and years of experience, but still struggle to access jobs that fully match their education and skills.
Doctors, engineers, financial professionals, and other highly trained workers often face years of requalification processes before they can practice at the same level they did in their home countries.
The study found that these disadvantages follow immigrant women throughout their careers, even after they enter high-paying professions.
Management, business, and financial occupations were identified as the largest employment category for immigrant workers in the United States, employing more than 4.15 million foreign-born workers. Another 2.8 million immigrant workers were employed in computer science, engineering, and scientific fields.
Despite this strong representation in high-value sectors, the wage gap remained intact.
“The wage gap does not close when the job title improves,” the report noted. “It follows the worker regardless of where they sit in the organization.”
The findings also showed how deeply immigrant workers are woven into critical sectors of the U.S. economy. Educational and health services employed more than 5.56 million immigrant workers in 2024, making it the largest industry for foreign-born labor. Professional and business services employed another 4.72 million workers, while financial industries employed nearly 1.6 million immigrant workers.
Even the U.S. government workforce includes a large immigrant presence, with more than 814,000 foreign-born workers employed in public administration roles.
Researchers stressed that these are not low-paying or low-skilled industries. Instead, they represent some of the most economically valuable sectors in the country. Yet immigrant workers continue to earn less than native-born employees overall, while immigrant women remain the most financially disadvantaged group in the study.
The report also highlighted how immigrant labor has become increasingly important to the American economy over the past decade. Foreign-born workers now make up 20% of the U.S. labor force, up from 15.6% in 2010. Researchers said this growth directly challenges political narratives that portray immigrants as an economic burden.
READ: Affordability, immigration top concerns for AAPI adults: Poll (January 27, 2026)
At the same time, the study argued that the idea that immigrant workers achieve equal economic success once employed is also inaccurate.
“The data does not support either narrative,” researchers said in the report. “Immigrant workers are indispensable to the American economy and systematically undercompensated for the work they do inside it.”
The regional breakdown showed that the South employed the highest number of immigrant workers overall, with more than 12 million foreign-born workers in its labor force. The West had the highest concentration of immigrant workers, accounting for 24.4% of the region’s workforce. The Northeast followed at 22.7%, while the Midwest recorded the lowest immigrant labor share at 10.7%.
Despite regional differences in labor demand, the earnings gap remained consistent across the country.
Researchers also pointed to broader workplace dynamics that contribute to lower earnings for immigrant workers. Limited access to career networks, lower awareness of wage benchmarks, and reduced leverage during salary negotiations often place foreign-born workers at a disadvantage compared to native-born peers.
The report said these factors create a long-term “discount” on immigrant labor that is rarely corrected over time, even when workers rise into leadership positions or highly specialized roles.
The study arrives during an intense national debate over immigration policy, labor shortages, and wage inequality in the United States. Researchers argued that the findings are especially important at a moment when industries across the country continue to rely heavily on immigrant labor while many immigrant families remain economically vulnerable.