Mexican Farm Labor Networks and Population Increase in the Pacific Northwest

As in many areas of the United States, there has been a rapid increase in the Hispanic population of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The largest contributors to this growth are in-migration from Mexico and California. In general, the areas with the highest population shares of Hispanic origin are in irrigated rural counties. However, the greatest part of the total Hispanic population increase has been in cities, largely consisting of people of Mexican origin. The urban areas experiencing the most rapid growth are near areas of significant, labor-intensive agriculture. Farm labor networks in urban fringe areas tap primarily into rural Mexican communities and the Southwest, bringing mostly people with low levels of human capital. A significant sorting of socioeconomic status is found in metropolitan areas far removed from areas of labor-intensive agriculture, where proportionately smaller Hispanic populations tend to have superior English skills, greater academic achievement, and lower levels of poverty. These metropolitan areas, including Spokane, the Puget Sound, and Eugene, have seen only limited transfers of rural-based poverty. The Mexican-origin population expansion in urban areas, because of its sheer size, is evidence that there are many people moving directly from Mexico to Pacific Northwest cities, circumventing rural residence and farm employment entirely.