Thursday, September 21, 2023

2020 US Census: Asian Indians now the largest Asian-alone group in US



Ongoing immigration from Asian countries, which outpaces immigration from Latin America, is continuing to change the United States in so many ways -- culturally, sociologically, economically and racially -- and reshaping the popular image of what an American looks like.

One of the surprising findings of the US Census is that the Asian Indian alone population has surpassed all other Asian groups. 

It makes sense because immigration from India is a relatively recent phenomenon compared to the older Asian communities which experienced surges in the late 20th century. As a largely first-generation immigrant community, Asian Indians have had less time to integrate, or intermarry, into the wider American population.

The finding underlines the complex diversity within the Asian American communities  beyond the most popular East Asian image that most non-Asians have of Asians and the limitation and danger of lumping all the Asian ethnicities and nationalities under one group.

The Census released a report issued today (Sept. 21) highlights some of the bureau's findings based on the 2020 US Census. The press release follows:

The Asian Indian alone population became the nation’s largest Asian alone population group in 2020, growing by over 50% to 4,397,737 between 2010 and 2020.

The nation’s most populous Asian alone or in any combination group in 2020 was the Chinese, except Taiwanese population with 5.2 million, an increase of 37.2% since 2010.

2020 Census demographic characteristics on 41 detailed Asian groups released today show that the Nepalese population increased over 250% and was the fastest growing Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination group among those with populations of 50,000 or more in 2010 (Table 1).



The Nepalese alone population increased 295.5% from 51,907 in 2010 to 205,297 in 2020. The Nepalese alone or in any combination population grew from 59,490 to 219,503, a 269.0% increase over the decade.

        FYI: For the complete US Census report on race and ethnicities, click here.

In this article, we present data from the race question on detailed race alone and race alone or in any combination populations.

The race alone population includes respondents who reported one response, such as Filipino. The race alone or in any combination population includes respondents who reported one response, such as Filipino, and it also includes respondents who reported more than one, such as Filipino and Asian Indian or Filipino and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. The race alone or in any combination population represents the maximum number of people who identified as that detailed group.

As our country becomes much more diverse and multiracial, this information is important to frame the discussion of racial and ethnic composition and help us understand our country’s changing demographics.


Largest Asian Alone Groups in 2020

The Asian Indian alone population increased 54.7% to 4,397,737 between 2010 and 2020 to become the most populous Asian alone group in the nation.

The next largest Asian alone groups and their population change from 2010 to 2020:
  • Chinese, except Taiwanese alone, 4,128,718 (up 31.6%).
  • Filipino alone, 3,076,108 (up 20.4%).
  • Vietnamese alone, 1,951,746 (up 26.0%).
  • Korean alone, 1,508,575 (up 6.0%).
  • Japanese alone, 741,544 (down 3.2%)
The Asian Indian alone or in any combination population increased 49.8% to 4,768,846 and was the second largest group in 2020.

The next four largest Asian alone or in any combination groups and their population growth from 2010 to 2020:
  • Filipino alone or in any combination, 4,436,992 (up 29.9%).
  • Vietnamese alone or in any combination, 2,293,392 (up 32.0%).
  • Korean alone or in any combination, 1,989,519 (up 16.6%).
  • Japanese alone or in any combination, 1,586,652 (up 20.6%).
To learn more about the 2020 population size of all detailed Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination groups for the nation, states, and counties, including less populous groups such as Laotian, Sikh, Hmong, Bhutanese, and more, explore the Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census data visualization.


States With Highest Shares of Largest Asian Groups

Of the six largest detailed Asian alone or in any combination groups, the largest share of each group (more than 18%) lived in California in 2020.

New York had the second largest proportions of the Chinese, except Taiwanese (15.9%) and Korean (8.1%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Texas was the state with the second largest proportions of Asian Indian (10.6%) and Vietnamese (14.2%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Hawaii had the second largest proportions of the Filipino (8.6%) and Japanese (19.7%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Washington became an increasingly popular place of residence and is now in the top five home states for all but the Asian Indian alone or in any combination population. That’s a change from 2010 [PDF 2.6 MB] when Washington was in the top five only for the Filipino, Japanese and Vietnamese alone or in any combination populations.

Washington has now surpassed New Jersey to become the state with the fifth largest proportion of the Chinese, except Taiwanese alone or in any combination population and has surpassed Virginia as the state with the fifth largest proportion of the Korean alone or in any combination population.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok@DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

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