Whether documented or undocumented one thing is clear: Immigrants have helped shape the economic boom The Bronx is currently experiencing.
According to Crain’s, unemployment is the lowest since 1990 when statistics began being tracked and The Bronx leads the city with the highest average salary in the health care industry in New York City at $61,100.
When compared to Brooklyn and Queens, The Bronx has had the highest population growth since 1980 at 26% and is now the fastest growing county in New York State.
It also leads gains in business sales since 2007 at 60% growth but still has the highest poverty rate at 28.4% and the lowest median income at $37,500 of the five boroughs.
Greg David at Crain’s reports:
The bottom line is similar in all three boroughs: Large population increases fueled by immigration since 1990 have revitalized them and in the past decade have boosted the number of businesses, their sales and the job count. Unemployment also has been reduced to the lowest rate since the government began tracking it in 1990.
The Bronx remains the weakest, with the highest unemployment rate and by far the lowest median income. One bright spot is its solid average private-sector wages, better than Brooklyn’s and Staten Island’s and not much behind those in Queens. Health care is the largest employer in the Bronx, and the big institutions that dominate it pay well. The average Bronx health care salary, $61,100, tops the citywide average for that category.
While The Bronx is booming, it’s more important now than ever to ensure that no one gets left out or pushed out as gentrification continues to creep in.
The very people that helped reshape our borough are the ones most at risk for displacement.
