Demographics of Asian Americans

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The demographics of Asian Americans describe a heterogeneous group of people in the United States who can trace their ancestry to one or more countries in Asia. Because Asian Americans total less than 5% of the entire U.S. population, the diversity of the group is often disregarded in media and news discussions of "Asians" or of "Asian Americans." While there are some commonalities across ethnic sub-groups, there are significant differences among different Asian ethnicities that are related to each group's history.

The 2000 U.S. census recorded 11.9 million people who reported themselves as having either full or partial Asian heritage, 4.2% of the U.S. population. The largest ethnic subgroups were Chinese (3.4 million), Filipinos (2.9M), Asian Indians (1.9M), Vietnamese (1.2M), Koreans (1.2M), and Japanese (1.1M). Other sizable groups are Cambodians (206,000), Pakistanis (204,000), Laotians (198,000), Hmong (186,000), and Thais (150,000).^[1] The Asian American population is heavily urbanized, with nearly three-quarters of Asian Americans living in metropolitan areas with population greater than 2.5 million. Asian Americans are concentrated in the largest U.S. cities, with 40% of all Asian Americans living in the metropolitan areas around Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. Half of all Asian Americans (5.4M) live in Hawaii or the West Coast, mostly in California (4.2M). Census data shows that Asian American populations are developing in major metropolitan areas off of the West Coast, with visible communities in areas such as Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and Greater Houston, to name the largest examples.

In regions with large numbers of Asian Americans, suburban communities have developed that are heavily or predominantly Asian. The schools in these areas may offer languages such as Mandarin as a second language. Since the 1970s "Koreatowns" and "Little Saigons" have appeared in several cities in addition to Chinatowns. Large Japantowns once existed up and down the West Coast of the United States, but the ones that remain are mere vestiges of once vibrant pre-World War II communities.

Asian Americans are visible and growing, but "underrepresented" (against the national aggregate) in several of the largest areas, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, although sizable concentrations (double the national percentage) can be found in urban neighborhoods of these cities such as Albany Park in Chicago and Olney in Philadelphia. Additionally, similar Asian populations are found in suburbs of these cities such as Naperville near Chicago; Millbourne, King of Prussia, and Cherry Hill near Philadelphia; Lowell and Lexington near Boston.

See also: List of U.S. cities with Asian American majority populations

[edit] Demographic trends

Asian Americans tend to have larger families and earn slightly less per capita than white populations. However, they have higher median income than whites as well as higher percentage of home ownership and college graduation rate.^[2] The proportion of Asian Americans at many selective educational institutions far exceeds the national population rate.

Such trends are less common among Asians emigrating to the United States from southeast Asian countries such as Laos and Cambodia, among others. Many of these immigrants can be considered refugees from Communist and totalitarian states and often do not have the educational or socioeconomic advantages of other Asian Americans. Many immigrants are often forced to work in minimum wage or below-minimum wage jobs, including menial sweatshop or restaurant labor, because they fear that mainstream employers will not hire them. If they are an illegal immigrant, employers will report them to the government.

[edit] Education

See also: Education outcomes in the United States by race and other classifications

Asian Americans have the highest educational attainment of any racial group. About 49% of Asian Americans have at least a bachelor's degree.^[3] Asian people often have the highest math averages in tests such as SAT, GRE etc. Since the 1990s, although verbal scores generally lag, combined SAT scores have also been higher than for white Americans.^{[citation needed]} Asians constitute around 20-30% of those attending Ivy League colleges.^{[citation needed]} Asian Americans are the largest ethnic group on some University of California campuses.^{[citation needed]} Asian Americans make up only 4% of the American population, but they are more likely to attend college, go to graduate school, and earn higher grades than any other ethnic group in the United States. Although Asians parents have the most education and household income, Asian SAT scores are typically as high as whites even with more education and income.^{[citation needed]} However, compared to whites, Asian Americans are less represented as teachers or professors than they are as students, and Asians are less common at less competitive campuses away from large metropolitan areas.^{[citation needed]}

There was, and to some extent still are concerns that the goal of "diversity" has had a negative effect on Asians who are usually over-represented with charges of quotas and discrimination starting in the 1980s.^{[citation needed]} Asian American test scores are also bi-modal, with disproportionate numbers of Asians not only at high scores, but also low scores.^{[citation needed]} The Asian community has a large number of poorly educated immigrants with low incomes and lack of English skills.^{[citation needed]} Asian education tradition is based on traditional respect for authority, memorization and hard work, but these values can be a variance to reform goals where critical thinking, problem solving, and questions that don't have one correct answer can be challenging to traditional cultures.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Income

Further information: Income in the United States

Median household and personal income along racial lines.^{[citation needed]}

Asian Americans have household and personal income levels that exceed those of any other racial demographic, yet the Asian poverty rate is higher than for whites.^[4] In 2005 the median personal income for Asian Americans was estimated to be $36,152, compared to $33,030 for Whites, $27,101 for African Americans and $23,613 for those identifying as Hispanic or Latino. Asian Americans had the highest household income levels of any racial demographic with a median household income of $61,094, compared to $48,554 among White households. Additionally 28% of Asian American households had incomes exceeding $100,000, while only 18% of the overall population boasted such household incomes. The higher household income for Asian Americans is, however, somewhat offset by a larger household size, leading to the median income per household member being slightly lower for Asian American than for White American households.^[5] As the differences between the personal income levels among Asian Americans and those of other races are smaller than the racial discrepancies in household income levels, it becomes apparent that Asian Americans have a higher percentage 2+ income earner households. Overall, the higher personal income levels are attributed mostly to higher educational attainment.

SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2006^{[citation needed]}