Hispanic-Latinos Fuel Chicago's Economy Contributing More Than $97 Billion to the Metro Area's Gross Domestic Product
The large and rapidly growing economic contributions of Hispanic-Latino residents in the Chicago metro area are driven by rapid gains in human capital, a strong work ethic, and a positive health profile. This striking combination has led to the 2018 Chicago Metro Latino Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $97.5 billion, which is larger than the entire economy of the state of Hawaii, according to a new report released by doctors Matthew Fienup, David Hayes-Bautista, Paul Hsu and Dan Hamilton. The findings in the report, The 2022 Chicago Metro Latino GDP Report, were revealed yesterday during the L'Attitude Chicago Business Summit at the Bank of America Chicago Headquarters. The entire report can be viewed here.
Published by California Lutheran University and UCLA Health and funded by Bank of America, the report identified the Chicago Metro's top five Latino GDP sectors, which are Education and Healthcare ($14.1 billion); Professional and Business Services ($11.1 billion); Durable Goods Manufacturing ($9.8 billion); Finance and Real Estate ($9.3 billion); and Leisure and Hospitality ($8.9 billion). Additionally, the largest component of the Chicago Metro's Latino GDP was consumption, totaling approximately $73.0 billion in 2018.
The findings in the new, first of its kind report provides a snapshot of the total economic contribution of Hispanic-Latinos in 2018, the last year the core data was available, showing the extraordinary growth rate of the Latino GDP. The analysis includes GDP calculations by industry, as well as detailed analysis of age distribution, labor force participation, income growth, and homeownership.
"At Bank of America, we recognize the incredible importance and impact of the Hispanic-Latino community especially here in the Chicago area, and we're committed to supporting its success," said Rita Cook, President, Bank of America Chicago. "The report provides fresh insights into the landscape and economic contributions by Hispanics and confirms that our Hispanic-Latino population is a driving force when it comes to the growth of our economy, the strength of our labor force, and our human capital."
"Latinos are drivers of growth for the Chicago Metro Area economy and an important source of economic strength and resiliency," said Dr. Fienup.
"If it were not for Latinos, the population, labor force, number of households, and number of homeowners in the Chicago Metro Area all would have declined from 2010 to 2018," said Dr. Hayes-Bautista. "Strong contributions by Latinos overcame the declines among Non-Latinos and turned all of these economic variables positive Metro-wide between 2010 and 2018."
According to the report, in 2018, the Chicago, Naperville and Elgin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was the third-largest metro area in the United States with 9.5 million people of all ethnicities. The 2018 Chicago Metro Latino population was 2.13 million people, making it the seventh largest MSA by Latino population. It also noted that between 2010 and 2018, the number of people in the Chicago metro area with a bachelor's degree or higher grew at a rate 2.5 times faster for Hispanic-Latinos than non-Latinos. The Hispanic-Latino labor force participation rate was an average of 4.6 percentage points higher than non-Latinos. And Hispanic-Latinos boasted lower age-adjusted mortality rates across the leading causes of death.
The 2022 Chicago Metro Latino GDP report is first of its kind research that provides a factual view of the large and rapidly growing economic contribution of Latinos living in targeted metropolitan statistical areas of the United States. It provides a detailed analysis of the MSA-level Latino GDPs, benchmarked against the corresponding State Latino GDP and the broader U.S. Latino GDP.
The U.S. Latino GDP is striking. The total economic output of Latinos in the United States was $2.6 trillion in 2018. If Latinos living in the U.S. were an independent country, their GDP would be the eighth largest in the world. In addition, the U.S. Latino GDP is most noteworthy for its extraordinary growth. Latino GDP grew a remarkable 74 percent faster than non-Latino GDP in the United States from 2010 to 2018.