The U.South. Asian population is diverse. A tape 22 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than xx countries in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, each with unique histories, cultures, languages and other characteristics.

The xix largest Asian origin groups in the United states of america together account for 97% of the nation'southward total Asian population. Beneath are key findings about these Americans. (This analysis includes all those who identify their race as Asian lone or every bit part of a multiracial background, regardless of Hispanic origin. It is accompanied by updated fact sheets that describe key demographic and economical characteristics of each of Asian origin group, as well as by another analysis that details the multifariousness of origins within the Asian American population.)

A line graph showing that the Asian population in U.S. nearly doubled between 2000 and 2019 and is projected to surpass 46 million by 2060

This assay and the accompanying fact sheets nigh the Asian population in the United states of america combine the latest data available from multiple sources. The main source used is a three-yr dataset constructed from the U.Due south. Census Agency'due south 2017-2019 American Community Survey's public-use files obtained from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Serial (IPUMS). The ACS is used to present demographic and economic characteristics for each group. Additional data on population estimates were obtained from the Census Bureau'due south 2012 report, "The Asian Population: 2010" (2000 and 2010) and tables available through Demography Bureau data. Population projection figures are from the Census Bureau'south 2017 population projections.

Population estimates for specific Asian groups include mixed-race and mixed-Asian group populations, regardless of Hispanic origin. Equally a result, in that location is some overlap in the numbers for the individual Asian groups considering people with origins in more than i group are counted in each group to which they belong. For case, an individual identifying as "Chinese and Filipino" would be included in the totals for all Chinese and all Filipinos.

All data was collected before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Asian population is projected to accomplish 46 million past 2060. In the 1870 census, roughly 63,000 individuals were classified equally Asian by U.S. Census Bureau enumerators. By 1960, the showtime time census respondents could cull their own race, 980,000 individuals self-identified every bit Asian. The nation's Asian population rose to xi.ix 1000000 past 2000 and so nearly doubled to 22.four million past 2019 – an 88% increase within two decades. Asians now make upwardly about seven% of the nation'southward overall population, and their numbers are projected to surpass 46 meg by 2060, nearly four times their current total. (In decennial censuses conducted in 1980 and before, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported as a single grouping.)

Single-race, non-Hispanic Asians make up a large majority of the population

The single-race, non-Hispanic segment of the U.S. Asian population makes up a large majority (83%) of all Asians in the country. This population is likewise the nation's fastest-growing racial or indigenous group. Between 2000 and 2019, their numbers grew by 81%, outpacing a 70% increment among Hispanics. The Blackness population grew by twenty% during this span, while in that location was virtually no change in the White population.

Multiracial and Hispanic Asians comprise 14% and 3% of the Asian population in the U.S., respectively. Those who place as Asian and White brand up a large majority (70%) of non-Hispanic multiracial Asians. Of the 19 origin groups included in this analysis, Japanese Americans are most probable to identify every bit multiracial non-Hispanic (32% practice so). Around one-in-five Filipinos (18%) and xv% of Koreans also place every bit multiracial non-Hispanic.

Asian Hispanics, meanwhile, are the smallest segment of the nation'southward Asian population. A 34% plurality of this group are Filipino.

A chart showing that six origin groups make up 85% of all Asian Americans

Chinese Americans are the largest Asian origin group in the U.S. , making up 24% of the Asian population, or 5.4 meg people. The adjacent two largest origin groups are Indian Americans, who account for 21% of the total (4.6 one thousand thousand people), and Filipinos, who account for 19% (or 4.two million people). Those with roots in Vietnam (2.2 meg), Korea (1.9 1000000) and Japan (1.5 meg) each have a population of at least 1 million. The other 13 groups in this analysis business relationship for 12% of all U.Southward. Asians, totaling 2.7 million people, with no one group surpassing 600,000. The remaining 3% of U.South. Asians provided other origins or indicated they are Asian but did not signal a specific origin.

Virtually half of U.South. Asians (45%) alive in the West, with nearly a third (xxx%) in California alone. California had an Asian population of roughly 6.7 1000000 in 2019, by far the nation's largest. It was followed by New York (one.9 million), Texas (1.6 one thousand thousand), New Jersey (958,000) and Washington (852,000). A majority of U.S. Asians (55%) lived in these v states.

Nearly half of all Asian Americans live in the West

Aside from Hawaii, where U.S. Asians accounted for 57% of the population in 2019, Asians made up the largest share of the overall population in California (17%), Washington (11%), New Jersey (11%) and Nevada (xi%).

While a plurality of Asian Americans lived in the Due west in 2019, some 24% lived in the South, nineteen% in the Northeast and 12% in the Midwest.

Around six-in-x Asian Americans (57%), including 71% of Asian American adults, were born in another state. Past comparison, 14% of all Americans – and 17% of adults – were born elsewhere.

The modernistic immigration wave from Asia has accounted for a quarter of all immigrants who accept arrived in the U.S. since 1965. But when and how Asian immigrants arrived in the U.South. varies, which helps explicate why some Asian origin groups are more likely than others to be U.S. born. For example, immigrants business relationship for only 27% of Japanese Americans, who began arriving in the 19th century every bit plantation workers in what is now the state of Hawaii. By dissimilarity, many Bhutanese arrived recently as refugees, and a large majority (85%) are strange built-in.

Asians projected to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S., surpassing Hispanics

Asian Americans are projected to be the nation's largest immigrant grouping by the middle of the century. Single-race, non-Hispanic Asians are projected to go the largest immigrant grouping in the state, surpassing Hispanics in 2055. By and then, Asians are expected to make up 36% of all U.Southward. immigrants, while Hispanics volition brand up 34%, according to population projections from the Pew Enquiry Centre.

People from Asia made up most 14% of the x.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2017. Four nations in Asia were amidst the superlative xv countries of birth for U.Southward. unauthorized immigrants: India (525,000), China (375,000), the Philippines (160,000) and Korea (150,000).

U.S.-born Asians are substantially younger than the rest of the Asian American population. As of 2019, the Asian population in the U.S. had a median age of 34, slightly lower than the nation's overall median of 38. But the median age of U.Due south.-born Asians was just 19 – compared with 36 amongst all U.S.-born people. Foreign-born Asians, meanwhile, had the same median historic period as the nation's overall immigrant population (45).

U.S.-born Asians are significantly younger than their foreign-born counterparts, and nearly 60% are members of Gen Z or younger

The relative youth of the U.South.-born Asian population is reflected in their generational breakup. Nearly six-in-x U.S.-born Asians (58%) were members of Generation Z in 2019, which means they were 22 or younger at the time. Another quarter of the U.S.-born Asian population that year belonged to the Millennial generation, while 1-in-ten or fewer were part of Generation X or older generations.

Overall, 72% of all U.South. Asians were "good" in English language as of 2019, meaning they either spoke merely English or spoke the language very well. Near all U.S.-born Asians (95%) were proficient in English, compared with 57% of strange-born Asians.

In 2019, nearly three-quarters of the U.S. Asian population speaks English proficiently; among the U.S. born, nearly two-thirds speak only English at home

About a third of U.S. Asians (34%) speak only English in their homes. The remaining 66% speak a language other than English language at dwelling. The most common of these is Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, spoken by 34% of Asians at dwelling house. Hindi (13%) is the second about unremarkably spoken non-English language amidst Asians, followed by Tagalog and other Filipino languages (9%) and Vietnamese (seven%).

Almost 2-thirds of U.S.-born Asians (65%) speak merely English at dwelling. Most Asian immigrants, past contrast, speak a linguistic communication other than English at home. Chinese is the most commonly spoken language among the foreign-built-in Asian population (22%), followed by Hindi (18%).

About a quarter of Asian Americans (27%) alive in multigenerational households. That'southward comparable to the share amid all immigrants in the U.S. (28%), but higher than the share among Americas overall (xix%). Asians who are immigrants are slightly more probable than U.S.-born Asians to reside in households with multiple generations under ane roof (29% vs 23%).

Asians have a lower homeownership charge per unit than the U.South. public overall (59% vs. 64%). However, the homeownership rate is on the rising amidst Asian Americans, increasing from 53% in 2000 to 59% in 2019. Immigrant Asians were slightly more than likely than U.S.-born Asians to be homeowners in 2019 (sixty% vs. 56%). Among the entire U.S. population, however, immigrants were less likely than the U.S. built-in to own a home in 2019 (53% vs. 66%).

On the whole, Asian Americans exercise well on measures of economical well-being compared with the overall U.S. population, but this varies widely amid Asian origin groups. In 2019, the median almanac household income of households headed by Asian people was $85,800, compared with $61,800 amongst all U.S. households. Foreign-born Asian households earned slightly more than than those headed past U.S.-born Asians ($88,000 vs. $85,000).

Despite doing well on economic indicators overall, income varies widely among Asian origin groups, as do poverty rates

These overall figures hide differences among Asian origin groups, all the same. Households headed by Burmese Americans, for example, had significantly lower incomes than Asian Americans overall ($44,400 vs. $85,800). By contrast, merely two Asian origin groups had higher household incomes than among Asian Americans overall: those headed by Indian Americans ($119,000) and those headed by Filipino Americans ($90,400).

All told, 12 Asian origin groups had higher median household incomes than the median among all Americans.

Asians are less likely than Americans overall to live in poverty (10% vs. thirteen% as of 2019). Poverty rates amongst U.Southward.-born and foreign-born Asians were ix% and 11%, respectively, that year. The poverty rate among immigrant Asian minors – those under the age of 18 – was slightly higher, at 16%.

Again, in that location are large differences in poverty rates among Asian subgroups. Most of the Asian origin groups analyzed (12 of 19) had poverty rates that were equally high as or higher than the U.S. boilerplate in 2019. Mongolians (25%) had the highest poverty rates among Asian groups, while the everyman charge per unit was amidst Indians (six%).

More than half of Asians ages 25 and older (54%) take a bachelor's degree or more education, compared with 33% of the U.S. population in the same historic period range. Similar shares of U.S.-born (55%) and foreign-born Asians (54%) have earned a college caste. Both figures are substantially higher than the share of all U.S.-born people and all U.Southward. immigrants with a higher degree (32% each).

Much like economic trends inside the U.S. Asian population, in that location are broad disparities amid origin groups. Indians ages 25 and older have the highest level of educational attainment among U.S. Asians, with 75% holding a bachelor's degree or more than in 2019. Bhutanese adults are the least likely Asian origin group to accept a college degree (xv%).

CORRECTION (Sept. viii, 2021): The figure originally reported for the 2019 Asian population is actually the number of responses of Asian groups to the American Community Survey question on race; individuals reporting more than ane Asian group are counted multiple times. The Asian population, or the number of individuals choosing one or more than Asian races, is 22.4 one thousand thousand in 2019. The findings in the written report and nautical chart "Asian population in U.Due south. most doubled between 2000 and 2019 and is projected to surpass 46 million by 2060" have been revised to reflect the population. The shares reporting specific Asian origin groups have been corrected to reflect the shares of the Asian population, rather than the shares of the Asian responses. No other findings in the study and fact sheets take been affected by these changes.

Annotation: This is an update of a post originally published Sept. 8, 2017. Read full methodology here.

Abby Budiman is a old research analyst focusing on race and ethnicity research at Pew Research Eye.

Neil G. Ruiz is an acquaintance director of race and ethnicity research at Pew Research Center.