Kamal Ghorui
A new study shows that households of H‑1B visa holders contribute significantly more to public finances than typical American households. On average, an H‑1B household provides a net fiscal contribution of $30,050 annually, compared with $11,530 for the average US household.The research was conducted by Adam Ozimek and Sarah Eckhardt, and it examines the impact of H‑1B visa holders on government revenues and expenditures at federal, state, and local levels. Ozimek, Chief Economist at the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), and Eckhardt, a Texas state senator and former Travis County judge, noted the findings in a recent post on X. “The average H‑1B household contributes a net of $30,050 at the federal level. At the state and local level, they contribute $5,040 per H‑1B household and are positive in 49 states,” Ozimek wrote.The paper is titled: “The Near-Term Fiscal Impact of H-1B Workers at the Federal and State-and-Local Levels”H‑1B households were found to generate positive fiscal balances in almost every state. Even lower-income states, such as Mississippi, see substantial gains, with an average net contribution of $4,600 per household, which is higher than that of 21 other states.The study says that the fiscal benefits of H‑1B workers are not limited to high-income regions.The report also evaluates potential policy changes that could further increase these contributions. Allowing all H‑1B spouses to work and changing the lottery to a wage-based system could increase the federal tax benefit to over $65,000 per household and raise the average state benefit to more than $10,500.According to the authors, the analysis offers new state-by-state estimates of the fiscal impact of H‑1B households, providing a clearer picture of how high-skilled immigration affects public budgets. It comes at a time of heightened concern over national deficits and renewed debates about high-skilled immigration policy.The report builds on previous research and focuses on the 3-6 period of H‑1B visas rather than lifetime contributions. “Existing research on this topic tends to focus on immigrants’ lifetime fiscal contributions. This report, conversely, shows how H‑1Bs contribute to the country’s fiscal health during their three- to six-year visa periods,” the study notes.
