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Posted Apr 10, 2026

Research Associate – Immigration Policy

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Cato Institute is a public policy research organization dedicated to individual liberty and limited government. They are seeking a Research Associate to support the immigration team by using statistical methods to produce original empirical research and assist in various research projects related to immigration policy. Responsibilities - Support the research of the senior members of the immigration team (80-90%) as well as other departments on an as-needed basis (10-20%). Roughly half of the Research Associate’s work will be for short-term day-to-day projects; the other half will be for longer-term projects - Gather, clean, and format datasets from numerous sources, such as the Current Population Survey, American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and others - Help prepare presentable statistical output in the form of figures and tables for other members of the Cato team - Efficiently and accurately proofread or update policy reports, blog posts, and other written content - Replicate statistical findings from academic research, policy analyses and government reports - Potentially co-author policy analyses, working papers, blog posts, and other empirical work with members of the Cato immigration team Skills - A bachelor's in economics, statistics, data science, or any field that requires strong quantitative skills - A prior internship or work experience with references - Prior work with statistics - Prior academic or non-academic writing experience - Familiarity with two or more software packages or programming languages used for data analysis (such as Excel, Stata, R, Python, MATLAB, etc.) - An understanding of and interest in Cato's libertarian mission and immigration policy - Strong organizational skills, including the ability to work on multiple tasks both independently and as part of a team on a time-sensitive basis - A commitment to accuracy and precision - Strong writing and editing skills - An advanced degree is preferred - Familiarity with Census survey microdata is a plus - Cover letter optional Benefits - Medical, dental, and vision insurance - Employer contribution to a Health Savings Account (HSA) - Generous vacation and sick days - Paid parental leave - Employer-provided life and disability insurance - 401(k) employer match - Transit/ Parking benefits - Pet discount plan Company Overview - Promoting an American public policy based on individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peaceful international relations. It was founded in 1977, and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is http://www.cato.org/.