The Impacts of Unauthorized Immigration on U.S. Labor and Housing Markets: New Evidence from Administrative Microdata

Daniel Wilson and Xiaoqing Zhou

No 2026-23, Working Paper Series from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Abstract: From early 2021 through early 2024, the U.S. experienced an unprecedented boom in unauthorized immigration, with substantial heterogeneity across local economies. Using administrative microdata, we construct new measures of national and local unauthorized immigration flows and exploit exogenous variation using multiple empirical designs. Unauthorized immigrant worker flows increased local employment approximately one-for-one, with mixed evidence of wage depression. They also raised house prices and rents without expanding housing supply. Finally, these flows reduced labor income per capita and government transfers. These findings help inform debates surrounding how unauthorized immigration impacts labor and housing markets and public finances in the U.S.

Keywords: immigration; labor markets; housing markets; post-pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 H53 J11 J21 J22 J23 J31 J61 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 74
Date: 2026-10-15
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Working Paper: The Impacts of Unauthorized Immigration on U.S. Labor and Housing Markets: New Evidence from Administrative Microdata (2026)
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DOI: 10.24148/wp2026-23

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