How Much Does the Hotel Industry Rely on Foreign Workers?

More than 31% of U.S. hotel workers are foreign-born—the 4th highest among the nation's largest industries

Source: Luxury Link analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data

The hotel industry is one of the most dependent sectors in the U.S. economy when it comes to foreign-born labor. According to the latest Census Bureau data, more than 31% of workers in the traveler accommodation sector—which includes hotels, motels, and resorts—are foreign-born. This ranks the industry fourth among the 50 largest private-sector industries by total employment.

Only building services (38.3%), landscaping services (35.4%), and crop production (31.8%) have higher shares of foreign-born workers. Notably, the hotel sector surpasses other labor-intensive fields such as home health care (26.4%) and construction (25.0%). Even industries often associated with high-skill employment, like computer services and scientific research, show significant but comparatively lower reliance on foreign-born employees.

Tags

As featured on