What are current employment rates for Somali Americans by age and gender compared to other African immigrant groups?
Executive summary
Available U.S.-focused data on Somali Americans show employment rates rising over time but vary by place and survey: national survey data from 2011–2015 put working‑age Somali American employment at about 58%, with Minnesota higher at roughly 62% and self‑employment near 5–6% [1]. Official U.S. sources and broad immigrant labor reports show immigrant employment generally higher in prime ages (25–54) — foreign‑born employment‑population ratio near 63.7% in 2024 — and OECD reporting that about 71% of immigrants were employed on average in 2024 [2] [3].
1. What the specific Somali figures actually say — fragmented but consistent
Published summaries and community profiles report Somali American employment as mixed but improving: pooled survey data for 2011–2015 estimated 58% of working‑age Somali Americans employed and 5.1% self‑employed nationally; Minnesota-specific estimates showed 62% employed and 5.9% self‑employed, with earlier local census snapshots showing wide gender gaps in earlier decades (e.g., Minneapolis data from 2000 with ~65% of men and ~35% of women employed) [1]. These figures come from secondary compilations (Wikipedia and state community profiles) rather than a single, current BLS table focused specifically on Somali origin, which limits precision [1].
2. How Somali rates compare to immigrant averages in available official data
Government releases and major analyses place immigrant employment broadly above or near national averages for prime working ages: the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the foreign‑born employment‑population ratio was about 63.7% in 2024, and other BLS material confirms immigrants remain concentrated in prime working ages [2] [4]. The OECD’s International Migration Outlook found almost 71% of immigrants employed on average in 2024, and noted female migrants’ employment improved in many countries [3]. Against those benchmarks, the 58–62% Somali figures from older U.S. surveys are somewhat below the OECD immigrant average but near the BLS foreign‑born employment‑population ratio [1] [2] [3].
3. Age and gender patterns described in available sources
Available reporting highlights clear age and gender differences but lacks a single contemporary table for Somali Americans by detailed age/gender bands. An analysis of ACS five‑year data cited labor force participation for Somali men aged 25–64 at 84% and women at 64%, compared with 81% and 73% for U.S.-born men and women respectively — signaling higher male participation but lower female participation than U.S.-born peers in that sample [1]. Historical Minneapolis census snapshots showed a very large gender gap in earlier waves [1]. Broader research on African immigrants notes men usually display more favorable socioeconomic measures than women (including higher self‑employment), a pattern echoed in the Somali community reporting [5].
4. Why direct one-to-one comparisons are hard — data gaps and measurement differences
No single authoritative, recent BLS table in the provided sources disaggregates employment rates by national origin (Somali) plus detailed age and sex bands; most Somali figures come from academic or community summaries of ACS or local census work [1] [2]. Comparisons with “other African immigrant groups” are complicated because available sources present African immigrants as a heterogeneous bloc with higher educational attainment in some studies and varying employment outcomes by country of origin; the aggregated immigrant statistics in BLS and OECD reports obscure that national‑origin variation [5] [3].
5. Broader context — labor markets, self‑employment and regional concentration
Somali Americans are concentrated in places with strong local economies (e.g., Minneapolis‑St. Paul), which correlates with somewhat higher employment and self‑employment rates in state‑level snapshots [1]. Research on African immigrants shows higher rates of graduate degrees and occupational clustering that can influence employment outcomes; self‑employment among men tends to be higher than among women [5]. OECD and BLS reporting also warn that immigrant workers are often concentrated in lower‑paying sectors even when employment rates are high [3] [4].
6. What reporting and policy debates this feeds into
Political and media attention to Somali communities (for example, discussions tied to Minnesota in recent reporting) rely on patchwork statistics that can be cited selectively; community advocates and critics may emphasize different data points [1] [6]. The limitations of available sources mean claims about “Somali unemployment being X versus other African groups” often overstate precision: public sources provide community‑level and pooled survey snapshots but not exhaustive, up‑to‑the‑month, age‑and‑gender disaggregated comparisons across every African national origin [1] [2] [3].
Limitations and next steps: Available sources do not provide a single, recent dataset that breaks Somali Americans’ employment rates down by detailed age and gender bands alongside comparable disaggregations for other African national‑origin groups; targeted ACS microdata or BLS/ACS cross‑tabulations would be required for the precise comparison you asked for (not found in current reporting) [1] [2]. If you want, I can draft the exact ACS microdata queries and tables you’d need to produce a rigorous age‑and‑sex comparison between Somali Americans and other African immigrant subgroups using public IPUMS/ACS or BLS microdata.