Asian American Demographic Data

by | May 26, 2020 | Diversity and Inclusion

This is the last week of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Here are the Asian American demographic data and facts that I’ve gathered over the years.

  • Asians and Asian Americans consist of 6% of the US population, about 18 million
  • Asian immigrants comprise 27% of the entire foreign-born population, so about 1 in 3
  • Between the years of 2010 to 2017, the nation’s overall population grew by 5%. During this same time, the Asian population grew 23%, four times as fast as the overall population
  • The states that have the most Asians and Asian Americans are the usual suspects California, Hawaii, and Texas. I live in Colorado and Colorado is ranked the 28th.
  • Asians and Asian Americans are very diverse. Officially, there are 24 types of Asians and Asian Americans based on their national origins. Language-wise, 18 different languages are spoken by Asians and Asian Americans.
  • If you have been on a road trip across the country, you probably notice that almost every single small town in the US has at least a Chinese or Asian restaurant. As of 2015, it’s estimated that there were about 47,000 Chinese restaurants alone. Starbucks had about 15,000 shops and similar to McDonald’s in 2015.
  • According to NBC News, Asians and Asian Americans buying power topped $1 trillion in 2018, which is higher than a lot of other demographic groups. Colorado’s Asians and Asian Americans buying power is about $7 billion
  • Politically, currently, there are 13 US Representatives and 3 Senators are Asian descendants, representing about 3% of overall Asians and Asian American population.
  • Bamboo Ceiling – 27% Asians and Asian Americans represent lower-level positions in corporations, but fewer than 19% of managers and less than 14% of executives were of Asian descent.
  • NPR and Harvard report in 2017 –
    • 27% of Asians and Asian Americans have personally discriminated against in applying for jobs
    • 25% is being paid or promoted equally
    • 25% in trying to rent or buy housing
    • 35% experienced insensitive or offensive comments
    • 32% experienced racial slurs
  • 28% of the US Muslims adults are Asian and/or Asian descendants
  • Crazy Rich Asians are the only 2nd all Asian cast film. In Oct 2018, it became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the last 10 years and the 6ht highest-grossing ever.

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Photo by Ingo Joseph from Pexels