How Many Undocumented Immigrants are in Ohio?

In terms of the share of the population that is taken up by undocumented immigrants, Ohio ranks among the lowest of all 50 states. While many Ohioans perceive that up to 30% of Ohio's population is undocumented—fortunately—the truth is much less distressing. In reality, less than 1.5% of all Ohio residents are undocumented.* 

So what are the actual numbers? 

Our closest estimates tell us that Ohio's undocumented immigrant population makes up 8/10 of 1% (or .8%) of Ohio's total population. In other words, approximately 99.2% of all people living in Ohio are either citizens or legally documented immigrants.

What about the workers? Are immigrants taking jobs that Ohioans would otherwise be working?

No. Since most immigrants that move to the United States do so for economic purposes, we should expect the number of workers to reflect the overall population estimates. And in fact they do:  as only  0.8% of all residents are undocumented, only 0.9% of all working people in Ohio are undocumented.  

Conversely stated: 99.1% of all people working in Ohio are either citizens or documented immigrant workers. 

Conclusions: Nearly everybody living in Ohio is here because they're supposed to be. Undocumented immigrants don't seem so scary once we see that there simply are not that many to be afraid of.

*Augmented March Current Population Surveys for 2006-2008, Pew Research Center.