← Marie Maxey Foundation home page
Each circle is a county or group of counties. Size shows the number of residents born in the three countries; slices show the mix by country. Hover for numbers, or click a circle to see that area's top job sectors.
| Country | Residents | % of area |
|---|
Share of employed residents born in the three countries.
Percentages are of each area's total population. Click a row to show the area above.
| Area | El Salvador | Guatemala | Honduras | All three | Top five job sectors |
|---|
Immigrants help drive state economic growth. A June 2026 study by North Dakota State University's Challey Institute examined all 50 states from 2008 to 2023. It found that when immigrants raise a state's population by 1 percent, the average state's private-sector GDP rises by about 1.23 percent. The effect varies widely, from 0.57 percent to 4.41 percent, with the largest gains in states that have smaller immigrant populations today.
The communities on this map are part of that engine. They build homes, clean offices, staff restaurants and keep processing plants running. Helping these families build savings, skills and lasting ties to their home countries strengthens the economies where they live, both here and in the Northern Triangle.
Read the study: How Does Immigration Affect GDP in Your State? (NDSU Challey Institute, June 2026)
Choose a state in any of the three panels to see how many residents of Salvadoran, Guatemalan or Honduran origin live there, where they are concentrated, and the work people born in that country do.