U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Features: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: May 2012

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In 1978, a joint congressional resolution established Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. The first 10 days of May were chosen to coincide with two important milestones in Asian/Pacific American history: the arrival in the United States of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843) and contributions of Chinese workers to the building of the transcontinental railroad, completed May 10, 1869. In 1992, Congress expanded the observance to a monthlong celebration. Per a 1997 Office of Management and Budget directive, the Asian or Pacific Islander racial category was separated into two categories: one being Asian and the other Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Thus, this Facts for Features contains a section for each.

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Asians

17.3 million

The estimated number of U.S. residents of Asian descent, according to the 2010 Census. This group comprised 5.6 percent of the total population. This count includes those who said they were both Asian alone (14.7 million) and Asian in combination with one or more additional races (2.6 million).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Brief – Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf

5.6 million

The Asian alone or in combination population in California; the state had the largest Asian population in the 2010 Census, followed by New York (1.6 million). Hawaii had the highest proportion of Asians (57 percent).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Custom Table 3, http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/redistricting.html

46%

Percentage growth of the Asian alone or in combination population between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, which was more than any other major race group.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Custom Table 3, http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn123.html

3.8 million

Number of Asians of Chinese, except Taiwanese, descent in the U.S. in 2010. Chinese-Americans were the largest Asian group, followed by Filipinos (3.4 million), Asian Indians (3.2 million), Vietnamese (1.7 million), Koreans (1.7 million) and Japanese (1.3 million). These estimates represent the number of people who reported a specific Asian group alone, and people who reported that Asian group in combination with one or more other Asian groups or races.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census, Table QT-P8,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/QTP8

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance

$67,022

Median household income for single-race Asians in 2010.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B19013D,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B19013D 

Median household income differed greatly by Asian group. For Asian Indians, for example, the median income in 2010 was $90,711; for Bangladeshi, it was $48,471. (These figures represent the single-race population.)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table S0201, http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~013 and http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S0201//popgroup~014

12%

The poverty rate for single-race Asians in 2010, not statistically different from the 2009 poverty rate. Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic whites, for blacks and for Hispanics.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/incpovhlth/2010/highlights.html

18%

Percentage of single-race Asians without health insurance coverage in 2010, up from 16.5 percent in 2009.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb11-157.html

Education

50%

The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who had a bachelor's degree or higher level of education. This compared with 28 percent for all Americans 25 and older. 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Tables B15002D and S1501,  http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002D and http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1501 

85%

The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma. This is not statistically different from the percentage for the total population or the percentage of Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone, 86 and 87 percent respectively.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Tables B15002D, S1501 and B15002E, http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002D,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1501 and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002E

20%

The percentage of single-race Asians 25 and older who had a graduate (e.g., master's or doctorate) or professional degree. This compared with 10 percent for all Americans 25 and older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Tables B15002D and S1501, http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002D and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1501

Voting

589,000

How many more single-race Asians voted in the 2008 presidential election than in the 2004 election. All in all, 48 percent of Asians turned out to vote in 2008 — up 4 percentage points from 2004. A total of 3.4 million Asians voted.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2008, http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/voting/cb09-110.html

Businesses

Source for the statements referenced in this section, unless otherwise indicated: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Survey of Business Owners via American FactFinder,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SBO/2007/00CSA01/0100000US/naics~00

1.5 million

Number of businesses owned by Asian-Americans in 2007, an increase of 40.4 percent from 2002.

$506 billion

Total receipts of businesses owned by Asian-Americans, up 54.9 percent from 2002.

45%

Percentage of Asian-owned businesses that operated in repair and maintenance; personal and laundry services; professional, scientific and technical services; and retail trade.

47%

Percentage of businesses in Hawaii owned by people of Asian descent. It was 14.9 percent in California and 10.1 percent in New York.

508,969

California had the most Asian-owned firms at 508,969 (32.8 percent of all such firms), followed by New York with 196,825 (12.7 percent) and Texas with 114,297 (7.4 percent).

Languages

2.8 million

The number of people 5 and older who spoke Chinese at home in 2010. After Spanish, Chinese was the most widely spoken non-English language in the country. Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean were each spoken at home by more than 1 million people.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B16001,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B16001

Serving Our Nation

265,200

The number of single-race Asian military veterans. About one in three veterans was 65 years and older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B21001D,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B21001D

Jobs

48%

The proportion of civilian employed single-race Asians 16 and older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations, such as financial managers, engineers, teachers and registered nurses. Additionally, 17 percent worked in service occupations, 22 percent in sales and office occupations and 10 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B24010D,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B24010D

Internet Use

80%

Percentage of Asians living in a household with Internet use — the highest rate among race and ethnic groups.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Reported Internet Usage for Households, by selected Householder Characteristics; Current Population Survey:  2009
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer/2009.html

Age Distribution

35.4

Median age of the single-race Asian population in 2010. The corresponding figure was 37.2 years for the population as a whole.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1, Tables P13 and P13D,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P13 and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P13D

22%

Percent of the single-race Asian population that was under age 18 in 2010 while 9.4 percent was 65 or older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1, Table P12D,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P12D

Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders

1.2 million
The number of U.S. residents who said they were Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, either alone or in combination with one or more additional races, according to the 2010 Census. This group comprised 0.4 percent of the total population. More than half of all people who identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander reported multiple races (56 percent).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Brief – Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf

Hawaii had the largest population of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders among the alone or in combination population with 356,000, followed by California (286,000). Hawaii had the largest proportion of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (26 percent).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Custom Table 3, http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/redistricting.html

40%

Percentage growth of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, Custom Table 3, http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn123.html

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance

$52,776

The median income of households headed by single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B19013E,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B19013E

18.8%

The poverty rate for those who classified themselves as single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table S1701,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1701

17%

The percentage without health insurance for single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table S2701, http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S2701

Education

15%

The percentage of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older who had a bachelor's degree or higher. This compared with 28 percent for the total population.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Tables B15002E and S1501,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002E and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1501

87%

The percentage of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older who had at least a high school diploma. This is not statistically different from either the percentage for the total population, 86 percent, or the percentage of Asian alone, 85 percent.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, B15002E, S1501, and B15002D,  http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002E,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1501 and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002D

4%

The percentage of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 25 and older who had obtained a graduate or professional degree. This compared with 10 percent for the total population this age.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B15002E and S1501 http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B15002E and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/S1501

Businesses 

Source for the statements referenced in this section, unless otherwise indicated:
U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Survey of Business Owners via American FactFinder
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SBO/2007/00CSA01/0100000US/naics~00

37,687

The number of Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses in 2007, up 30.2 percent from 2002.

$6.3 billion

Total receipts of these businesses, up 47.7 percent from 2002.

45%

The percent of all Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned business revenue that construction and retail trade accounted for.

9%

The percent of businesses in Hawaii owned by Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders, highest among all states.

Serving Our Nation

27,800

The number of single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander military veterans. About one in five veterans was 65 years and older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, B21001E,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B21001E

Jobs

26%

The proportion of civilian employed single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders 16 and older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations, such as financial managers, engineers, teachers and registered nurses (not statistically different from service and sales occupations). Additionally, 24 percent worked in service occupations, while 27 percent worked in sales and office occupations and 14 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations. 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey, Table B24010E,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_1YR/B24010E

Age Distribution

28.9

The median age of the single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population in 2010. The median age was 37.2 for the population as a whole.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1, Tables P13 and P13E, http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P13 and
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P13E

29%

Percentage of the single-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population that was under age 18 in 2010 while 5.8 percent was 65 or older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1, Table P12E,
http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P12E

Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau's Facts for Features series:

Editor's note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; fax: 301-763-3762; or e-mail: [email protected].

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau