Immigrant Population In U.S. To Reach New Heights

According to a recent article in the New York Times, "If present trends continue, within two decades the proportion of immigrants in the United States will surpass the peak reached more than a century ago, a new analysis concludes."

The article cites estimates from the Pew Research Center that say that sometime between 2020 and 2025, immigrants will account for 15 percent of the American population, which works out to one in seven people.

The article also cites the Pew Research Center also estimates as evidence that this increase could affect the size and makeup of the American workforce. "Because the vast wave of baby boomers will be joining the ranks of the elderly, the number of young and elderly compared to the number of working people—the so-called dependency ratio—would rise to 72 per 100 in 2050, compared with 59 per 100 in 2005."

What does this mean for investors? For one thing, it means that the job market is likely to change. Both the types of jobs in demand and the types of workers available might shift as the population of immigrants increases. It also means that real estate prices could increase in areas traditionally heavily populated by immigrants, because the balance between supply and demand could be disrupted.