Undercounted and Misunderstood: Measuring Hispanic Immigration and its Effects

Posted: 21 Feb 2025

See all articles by Pablo Slutzky

Pablo Slutzky

University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business

Agustin Hurtado

University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business

Francisca Sara-Zaror

Federal Reserve Board of Governors

Date Written: January 10, 2025

Abstract

The United States has experienced an unprecedented immigration boom since 2021, with net annual inflows averaging 2.5 million, over 80% of whom are Hispanic immigrants. Despite the growing importance of immigration in shaping economic and social outcomes, the availability of precise data for recent years remains limited, constraining researchers' ability to assess its impacts. Official estimates likely undercount the Hispanic immigrant population, particularly in smaller geographic areas, posing challenges for local analyses. To address this gap, we develop a novel framework to measure the local presence of Hispanic immigrants using retail sales data from Hispanic-branded products. After validating our measure, we examine its implications for a range of economic and social outcomes, such as housing prices, rent inflation, and crime.

Keywords: Immigration, Crime, Housing, Measurement

JEL Classification: C83, J15, O18, R21, R23, R31

Suggested Citation

Slutzky, Pablo and Hurtado, Agustin and Sara-Zaror, Francisca,

Undercounted and Misunderstood: Measuring Hispanic Immigration and its Effects

(January 10, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5109010

Pablo Slutzky (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business ( email )

College Park, MD 20742-1815
United States

Agustin Hurtado

University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business ( email )

Francisca Sara-Zaror

Federal Reserve Board of Governors ( email )

Washington, D.C., DC

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