CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS WITH LINKS
CB02-FF.06 April 18, 2002
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: May 1-31
Population Total
11.9 million
The number of U.S. residents who reported as Asian alone or in combination with one or more other races in Census 2000. This group made up 4.2 percent of the total population.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
A total of 2.7 million people reported they were Chinese alone or in combination with one or more other races or Asian groups in Census 2000, making Chinese the leading Asian group; Filipino (2.4 million) and Asian Indian (1.9 million) followed. (The Chinese population does not include Taiwanese.) <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
874,400
The number of U.S. residents who reported as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination with one or more other races in Census 2000. This group made up 0.3 percent of the total population.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn193.html>
Income and Poverty
$55,525
The median income in 2000 of Asian and Pacific Islander households, the highest median income of any racial group. The 2000 income equaled the all-time high for Asians and Pacific Islanders.
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h05.html>
10.7%
The poverty rate of Asians and Pacific Islanders in 2000. The 2000 rate equaled the lowest poverty rate the Census Bureau has ever measured for this race group.
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/histpov/hstpov2.html>
Education
44%
The percentage of Asians and Pacific Islanders age 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2000. The corresponding rate for all adults 25 and over was 26 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-211.html>
86%
The percentage of Asians and Pacific Islanders 25 and over who were high school graduates in 2000. This percentage is slightly higher than the 84 percent of all adults in this age group.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-211.html>
1 million
The number of Asians and Pacific Islanders with an advanced degree in 2000 (e.g., master's, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.), comprising a ratio of 1-in-7 Asians and Pacific Islanders 25 and over.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00-211.html>
Coming to America
7.2 million
The number of U.S. residents in 2000 who were born in Asia. Asian-born residents comprised 26 percent of the nation's total foreign-born population. The number of Asian-born people totaled just 800,000 in 1970, then more than tripled in the 1970s and nearly doubled again in the 1980s, reaching 5.0 million in 1990.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html>
In 2000, the five largest contributors to the nation's Asian-born population were China, India, Korea, the
Philippines and Vietnam. All five were among the 10 leading countries of birth of the foreign-born. As recently as 1970, no Asian country was on this list.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html>
Close to half (about 45 percent) of the nation's Asian-born population lived in three metropolitan areas in 2000: Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html>
47%
Percentage of the foreign-born population from Asia who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2000. Only those born in Europe had a higher rate (52 percent).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html>
88%
Percentage of Asians and Pacific Islanders in 2000 who were either foreign-born themselves or had at least one foreign-born parent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-18.html>
Businesses
913,000
Number of Asian and Pacific Islander-owned businesses in the United States in 1997. These businesses employed more than 2.2 million people and generated $306.9 billion in revenues. They made up 4 percent of the nation's 20.8 million nonfarm businesses and 30 percent of all minority-owned firms.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-88.html>
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-115.html>
Asian and Pacific Islander-owned firms generated more than half (52 percent) of all minority-owned business revenues.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-115.html>
Between 1992 and 1997, the number of businesses owned by Asians and Pacific Islanders increased about four times as fast as the total number of businesses (30 percent versus 7 percent). Receipts of Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned firms rose 68 percent, compared with a 40 percent increase for all U.S. firms over the period. (These data exclude C corporations for which prior comparable data are not
available.)
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-88.html>
In 1997, more than 1-in-3 Asian and Pacific Islander-owned firms were located in the following metro areas: Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.; New York, N.Y.; Orange County, Calif.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and San Francisco, Calif.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-88.html>
$336,200
Average receipts of Asian and Pacific Islander-owned firms in 1997. This total is lower than the average for all firms ($410,600), but higher than that for all minority-owned firms ($194,600). (The average for all firms excludes publicly held corporations and firms, such as mutual companies, whose owners' race or ethnicity could not be determined.)
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-88.html>
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-115.html>
45,000
The number of Asian and Pacific Islander-owned firms with annual sales of $1 million or more each in 1997.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-88.html>
Population Distribution
Nation
Census 2000 was the first census in which respondents had the option of choosing more than one race to describe their racial identity. People who chose Asian alone in 2000 showed an increase of 3.3 million, or 48 percent, since 1990. However, if the population who chose Asian and at least one other race is added, the result is an increase of 5.0 million, or 72 percent. By comparison, the total U.S. population grew by 13 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
Similarly, the population who chose Pacific Islander alone in 2000 showed an increase of 34,000, or 9.3
percent, over 1990. However, if the population who chose Pacific Islander and at least one other race is added, the result is an increase of 509,000, or 140 percent.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn193.html>
(Note: The data that follow pertain to the population who reported as Asian alone, as well as those who reported Asian and at least one other race.)
49%
The proportion of people reporting as Asian in Census 2000 who lived in the Western part of the United States.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
States
4.2 million
The number of California residents who reported as Asian in Census 2000, making the Golden State the state with the highest number of Asians. New York, Hawaii, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington, Florida, Virginia and Massachusetts followed in order. Combined, these ten states represented 75 percent of the country's Asian population.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
58%
The percentage of Hawaii's population who reported as Asian in Census 2000, tops in the nation. California (12 percent) followed.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
Places
872,780
The number of people in New York city who in Census 2000 reported as Asian. New York led all the nation's places in number of Asians. Los Angeles was second, with 407,440, followed by San Jose, San Francisco and Honolulu (each with slightly more than 250,000).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
68%
Percentage of Honolulu residents who in Census 2000 reported as Asian. Among places with 100,000 or more residents, the only other that had more than one-half of its population reporting as Asian was Daly City, Calif. (54 percent). All of the remaining cities among the 10 with the highest percentage of Asians in their population were in California: Fremont, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, Irvine, Garden Grove, Santa Clara, Torrance and San Jose.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
Age Distribution
31.1
The median age of the Asian population in 2000, meaning one-half were above this midpoint and one-half below. The median age for the entire U.S. population was 35.3.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02cn59.html>
Languages
6.9 million
The number of people who in 2000 spoke an Asian or Pacific Islander language at home. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn190.html>
Computer Access
66%
The proportion of the nation's Asian and Pacific Islander adults 18 and over who, as of 2000, lived in a household with a computer. Asians and Pacific Islanders 18 and over had the highest rate of home computer access of any race or ethnic group. In addition, 44 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander adults used the Internet at home.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-147.html>
Families
2.5 million
The number of Asian and Pacific Islander families in 2000. Of these, 80 percent were maintained by married couples, 13 percent by women with no spouse present and 7 percent by men with no spouse present.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-111.html>
Asian and Pacific Islander families tended to be relatively large. In 2000, for example, 23 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander married-couple families had five or more members.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-111.html>
Voting
While the rate at which Asian and Pacific Islander citizens voted (43 percent) remained unchanged between the 1996 and 2000 elections, the number of these voters increased by about 20 percent. This reflected growth in the voting-age population and citizenship of Asian and Pacific Islanders.
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02-31.html>
The preceding facts come from Census 2000, the Current Population Survey, the Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises and the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey. The data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Estimates from the C2SS exclude the population living in group quarters. Previous Census Bureau Facts for Features in 2002: African American History Month (February), Valentine's Day (Feb. 14), Women's History Month (March), St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and the Census Bureau Centennial (March 6). Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau's Public Information Office (Tel: (301) 457-3030; Fax: (301) 457-3670; E-mail: pio@census.gov)
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