| Table 1 | ||||
| Native and Foreign Born Populations in the United States | ||||
| Native | Non Native | Native / Total % | Non Native / Total % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 4,696,569 | 168,111 | 96.5 | 3.5 |
| Alaska | 681,117 | 57,399 | 92.2 | 7.8 |
| Arizona | 6,013,533 | 933,152 | 86.6 | 13.4 |
| Arkansas | 2,848,191 | 142,480 | 95.2 | 4.8 |
| California | 28,611,231 | 10,537,529 | 73.1 | 26.9 |
| Colorado | 4,988,164 | 542,977 | 90.2 | 9.8 |
| Connecticut | 3,067,858 | 513,646 | 85.7 | 14.3 |
| Delaware | 862,117 | 87,378 | 90.8 | 9.2 |
| District of Columbia | 588,340 | 96,158 | 86.0 | 14.0 |
| Florida | 16,370,929 | 4,227,210 | 79.5 | 20.5 |
| Georgia | 9,261,501 | 1,035,983 | 89.9 | 10.1 |
| Hawaii | 1,162,443 | 259,586 | 81.7 | 18.3 |
| Idaho | 1,586,813 | 100,996 | 94.0 | 6.0 |
| Illinois | 11,023,780 | 1,797,717 | 86.0 | 14.0 |
| Indiana | 6,295,511 | 341,915 | 94.8 | 5.2 |
| Iowa | 2,970,627 | 161,872 | 94.8 | 5.2 |
| Kansas | 2,702,093 | 206,683 | 92.9 | 7.1 |
| Kentucky | 4,273,094 | 167,110 | 96.2 | 3.8 |
| Louisiana | 4,470,411 | 193,205 | 95.9 | 4.1 |
| Maine | 1,284,867 | 47,946 | 96.4 | 3.6 |
| Maryland | 5,099,902 | 903,533 | 84.9 | 15.1 |
| Massachusetts | 5,700,461 | 1,129,732 | 83.5 | 16.5 |
| Michigan | 9,286,383 | 671,105 | 93.3 | 6.7 |
| Minnesota | 5,065,600 | 461,758 | 91.6 | 8.4 |
| Mississippi | 2,919,010 | 69,752 | 97.7 | 2.3 |
| Missouri | 5,842,274 | 247,788 | 95.9 | 4.1 |
| Montana | 1,019,047 | 22,685 | 97.8 | 2.2 |
| Nebraska | 1,771,336 | 133,424 | 93.0 | 7.0 |
| Nevada | 2,356,449 | 566,400 | 80.6 | 19.4 |
| New Hampshire | 1,262,335 | 81,287 | 94.0 | 6.0 |
| New Jersey | 6,913,785 | 1,968,060 | 77.8 | 22.2 |
| New Mexico | 1,891,200 | 201,234 | 90.4 | 9.6 |
| New York | 15,178,560 | 4,439,893 | 77.4 | 22.6 |
| North Carolina | 9,356,008 | 799,616 | 92.1 | 7.9 |
| North Dakota | 722,572 | 29,629 | 96.1 | 3.9 |
| Ohio | 11,120,898 | 520,981 | 95.5 | 4.5 |
| Oklahoma | 3,683,601 | 234,536 | 94.0 | 6.0 |
| Oregon | 3,676,122 | 405,821 | 90.1 | 9.9 |
| Pennsylvania | 11,925,461 | 865,720 | 93.2 | 6.8 |
| Puerto Rico | 3,295,075 | 91,866 | 97.3 | 2.7 |
| Rhode Island | 912,414 | 144,197 | 86.4 | 13.6 |
| South Carolina | 4,715,486 | 240,439 | 95.1 | 4.9 |
| South Dakota | 834,177 | 30,112 | 96.5 | 3.5 |
| Tennessee | 6,317,027 | 334,062 | 95.0 | 5.0 |
| Texas | 23,148,503 | 4,736,692 | 83.0 | 17.0 |
| Utah | 2,788,790 | 256,560 | 91.6 | 8.4 |
| Vermont | 595,985 | 28,992 | 95.4 | 4.6 |
| Virginia | 7,375,614 | 1,038,160 | 87.7 | 12.3 |
| Washington | 6,273,355 | 1,020,981 | 86.0 | 14.0 |
| West Virginia | 1,799,414 | 29,640 | 98.4 | 1.6 |
| Wisconsin | 5,491,013 | 287,381 | 95.0 | 5.0 |
| Wyoming | 561,560 | 20,276 | 96.5 | 3.5 |
| United States | 279,363,531 | 43,539,499 | 86.5 | 13.5 |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates and Economic no nonsense calculations. | ||||
The Non Native Population in the United States
January 19, 2020
On December 19 of 2019 the U.S. Census Bureau released the data of the American Community Survey for 2018. The estimated total population of the country for that year is 323 million (Table 1), composed by 279 million natives and 44 million non native foreign born individuals. The state with the highest percentage of non natives is California and the one with the least is West Virginia.
The native population includes all individuals born and residing in the United States and also all of those born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island Areas or born outside the U.S. to a U.S. citizen parent and who subsequently moved to the United States. This latter group (Graph 1) accounts for close to 5 million people. Therefore, the native population born in the "continental" U.S. and Hawaii is 274 million.
For the U.S. having a diverse and effective non native population represents a competitive advantage. In general, the foreign born individual is a ready mature worker that did not require any local resources for her/his upbringing like housing, food, transportation, health care and education. In effect, the number of foreign born children in the country is relatively small compared to the native. In fact, the population 17 years old or younger represents 23.1% (64.5 million) of the total among the natives and 5.8% (2.5 million) among the foreign born.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in current dollars for 2018 was $20.7 trillion dollars (www.bea.gov) meaning that GDP per capita was $63,701.48. If one assumes that government expenditure on education has remained relatively stable at a rate of 5% of GDP (www.worldbank.org) then the total for 2018 was around $1 trillion. Primary education accounts for close to 31% of the total while secondary education close to 35% of that expense.
Assuming that the cost of education for those between the ages of 17 and 5 is all financed by government expenditure in primary and secondary education then the average expenditure per year per student would be approximately $12,475. If that population starts primary at age of 5 and ends secondary education when they turn 18, and there is no source of education different from public education, the cost to the government of providing a basic education (primary plus secondary) would be around $162,177 per student.
According to the USDA (www.usda.gov) the cost of raising a child born in 2015 is $233,610 for a middle income family with two children which adjusted for average inflation in 2018 would be $247,497. This cost mostly includes housing, food and transportation. It does not include public primary and secondary education or private and public tertiary (college) education or the value of the parents' child rearing effort. Consequently, the cost of raising a child, including education, rises to $409,674 in 2018 dollars excluding any other public expenditure in child care, health care or other required. This is one of the ways in which the country saves when an adult non native individual arrives.
