Where America’s undocumented immigrants work

By Philip Bump
March 27 at 6:30 AM - The Washington Post

Undocumented immigrants were more likely to work in white-collar jobs in 2012 than they were in 2007, according to new analysis from Pew Research Center. Overall, though, the occupations held by those who immigrated illegally and the rest of the population differ dramatically.

The chart below compares the undocumented population with all workers in the United States. Fields in blue are those in which undocumented workers are more likely to be occupied than the total population; those in red, less likely.

While the number of undocumented immigrants working in construction and production dropped 5 percentage points, 29 percent of the undocumented immigrant population still works in those fields. The percentage working in management and professional jobs increased from 10 to 13 percent over the five-year period.

As a percentage of industries, far more undocumented immigrants work in agriculture, construction and leisure than would be expected if considering only their density in the entire workforce.

The most common industry varied by state. In the South, it's mostly construction; in the West, leisure and hospitality.

Despite the shifts in where they're occupied, the total number of undocumented immigrants in the workforce didn't change much between 2007 and 2012.