Research & Statistics Hispanics on Long Island

By Mariano Torras, Ph.D. and Curtis Skinner, Ph.D. Produced by Adelphi University

Demographics - Long Island
• An overwhelming majority of Long Island Hispanics are in the US legally. Nearly 85% of Hispanics in Nassau and Suffolk County are US citizens or have legal status.
• Hispanics are fueling Long Island’s growth - the largely immigrant Long Island Hispanic population now accounts for 12% of the region’s population. There are roughly 300,000 Hispanics on Long Island, signaling a vibrant and growing community.

Hispanic Entrepreneurs: Powering Long Island’s economy
• Long Island’s Hispanic entrepreneurs are thriving, helping the region’s economy remain vibrant. Hispanic-owned businesses in the region grew by over a third between 1997 and 2002; their total sales and receipts jumped by over 20%. Suffolk County saw an even greater jump in the number of its Hispanic-owned businesses, which went up by 50%.
• The region’s Hispanic-owned businesses are sustaining growth and creating jobs for all Long Islanders. Hispanic-owned small businesses in Nassau and Suffolk County generated over $2 billion in sales in a five-year period, and accounted for an estimated 25,000 jobs.

Hispanic Taxpayers: A net positive for Long Island
• Hispanics contribute more than they take from Long Island’s tax base. Long Island’s Hispanics taxpayers contribute an average of $614 more per person annually than they receive in local public services such as education and healthcare.
• Long Island depends on Hispanic tax contributions. In 2004 alone, Hispanics chipped in about $925 million in tax revenues and government fees.
• Long Island tax coffers benefit substantially from Hispanic taxpayers. As a whole, Hispanics pay $202 million more each year into local tax coffers than they use in local services such as schools, health care, and corrections facilities.

Hispanic workers: Crucial to Long Island industries
• Long Island’s Hispanics work hard, and are often more likely to be employed than other Long Islanders. Across the board, Hispanic men and women in both counties are more likely to be working than their fellow Long Islanders.
• Long Island’s Hispanics are increasingly important members of the region’s workforce. The number of Hispanic workers jumped by nearly a third from 2000-2004 alone - a period when the total number of Long Island workers increased by less than 1%.
• Hispanic workers put food on Long Island’s tables and restaurants, tend to the sick and aging, and produce consumer goods. Immigrant workers play key roles in local industries such as manufacturing, health services and home care, and food service.

Hispanic consumers: Generating economic activity and jobs for all Long Islanders
• Hispanics are important consumers on Long Island, and directly create jobs for all Long Islanders. Long Island gained over 50,000 jobs from Hispanic buying power.
• Long Island’s Hispanic consumers alone contributed $5.69 billion to the regional economy in 2004.

(Source: “The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population on Long Island, New York” Horace Hagedorn Foundation, 2007.

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