{"id":9092,"date":"2025-05-01T13:46:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T17:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/key-facts-about-asian-americans\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T14:39:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:39:35","slug":"key-facts-about-asians-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/05\/01\/key-facts-about-asians-in-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Key facts about Asians in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Asian population in the United States is diverse and growing quickly. It includes more than two dozen origin groups with roots in Central, East, South and Southeast Asia, each with unique history, cultures, languages and other characteristics. In 2023, the number of Asian Americans reached a new high of nearly 25 million, or 7% of the U.S. population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to describe the Asian population in the United States overall and 22 Asian origin groups: Bangladeshis, Bhutanese, Burmese, Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hmong, Indians, Indonesians, Japanese, Koreans, Laotians, Malaysians, Mien, Mongolians, Nepalese, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Taiwanese, Thai, Uzbeks and Vietnamese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asians<\/strong> are defined as people who say their race is Asian or any specific Asian group, such as Hmong, Pakistani or Vietnamese. This may not necessarily match their country of birth or their parents\u2019 country of birth. Individuals who say they are Asian may also identify as Hispanic and\/or as one or more non-Asian races, such as White or Black. The terms Asians in the U.S.<\/strong>, U.S. Asians<\/strong> and Asian Americans<\/strong> are used interchangeably in this analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this analysis, Chinese<\/strong> does not include those who identify as Taiwanese alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the entire analysis, all displayed numbers are rounded. Shares and percent changes are calculated using unrounded numbers. Figures may not add to subtotals or 100% due to rounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This analysis is based on three main data sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/strong> Pew Research Center tabulations of a three-year dataset constructed from public-use files of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 American Community Survey (ACS).<\/strong> We obtained these files through IPUMS from the University of Minnesota<\/a>. To provide trends to previous years, this analysis also uses the 2000 decennial census (5% sample) from IPUMS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For analysis of IPUMS data, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Vietnamese include those who identify with each origin alone or in combination with another Asian origin or a non-Asian race or ethnicity. Due to data limitations, all other origin groups only include those who identify with one Asian origin and identify their race as Asian alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine English proficiency,<\/strong> the ACS<\/a> asks respondents two questions. First, it asks if they speak a language other than English at home. If they say yes, they are asked how well they speak English. Those who say they speak only English at home or speak English \u201cvery well\u201d are considered proficient<\/em> in English. Those who speak a language other than English at home and say they speak English less than \u201cvery well\u201d are considered less than proficient<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identified languages spoken at home<\/strong> are based on self-reports. Language names used are as reported by IPUMS<\/a> and may not necessarily reflect recognized language names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. <\/strong>Tabulations published by the U.S. Census Bureau<\/strong><\/a> of the 2023 and 2010 ACS and the 2000 decennial census.<\/strong> The tabulations use the full datasets rather than the subsamples IPUMS provides, so they are assumed to be the most accurate population estimates for the given year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Census Bureau tabulations, all Asian origin groups<\/strong> include those who identify with an Asian origin alone or in combination with another Asian origin or a non-Asian race or ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.<\/strong> Pew Research Center\u2019s <\/strong>nationally representative survey<\/strong><\/a> of 7,006 Asian American adults<\/strong> conducted July 5, 2022, through Jan. 27, 2023. We offered the survey in six languages: Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), English, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. For this analysis, this survey provides data on the religious affiliation of Asian Americans and Asian origin groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings for Asian origin groups<\/strong> include those who identify with one Asian origin alone or in combination with a non-Asian race or ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, refer to the methodology<\/a> for our fact sheets about Asian Americans overall and 22 Asian origin groups.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are some key facts about Asian Americans, based on tabulations of U.S. Census Bureau data and Pew Research Center data. In this analysis, the overall Asian population includes all those who identify as Asian, including those who also identify as one or more non-Asian races or as Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/em><\/strong> Read our <\/em>updated fact sheets about Asian Americans overall and 22 Asian origin groups<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Asian population has more than doubled since 2000.<\/strong> The number of Asian Americans grew from 11.9 million in 2000 to 24.8 million in 2023. Both the U.S.-born and immigrant populations increased significantly over this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Asian share of the U.S. population overall increased from 4% to 7% during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chinese Americans are the largest Asian origin group in the U.S.<\/a><\/strong> At 5.5 million people, they make up 22% of the Asian population. The next-largest origin groups are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"6<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n