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Updated: Jul 4th, 2008 - 19:20:56 |
CB05-FF.06
March 31, 2005
Printable PDF Version (64K) |
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Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
May 2005
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 anniversaries: the arrival in the United States of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843) and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (May 10, 1869). In 1992, Congress expanded the 10-day observance to a month-long celebration. Per a 1997 Office of Management and Budget directive, the Asian or Pacific islander racial category was separated into two different categories: “Asian” and “native Hawaiian or other Pacific islander.” |
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 13.5 million
The estimated number of U.S. residents who say they are Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races. This group comprises 5 percent of the total population. California has both the largest population (4.6 million) and the largest numerical increase (367,100) of people of this group since April 2000; Hawaii is the state where Asians make up the highest proportion of the total population (58 percent).
 959,603
The estimated number of U.S. residents who say they are native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander or native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander in combination with one or more other races. This group comprises 0.3 percent of the total population. There are 282,500 native Hawaiians or Pacific islanders in Hawaii, which leads all states. Hawaii is also where native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders make up the largest proportion (23 percent) of the total population. California had the largest numerical increase of native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders (12,700) since April 2000.
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Coming to America 8.7 million
The number of U.S. residents who were born in Asia. Asian-born residents comprise one-fourth of the nation’s total foreign-born population.
52%
The percentage of the foreign-born from Asia who are naturalized U.S. citizens. The corresponding rate for the foreign-born population as a whole is 38 percent.
1.7 million
The estimated number of foreign-born people from China (Table: PCT027). Next to Mexico, China is the leading country of birth for the nation’s foreign-born. Also among the top 10 countries of birth for the foreign-born population are the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Korea. |
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33.4 million
The projected number of U.S. residents who will identify themselves as Asians in 2050. They would comprise 8 percent of the total population by that year.
213%
The projected percentage increase between 2000 and 2050 in the population of people who identify themselves as Asian. This compares with a 49 percent increase in the population as a whole over the same period. |
Age Distribution33%
The percentage of the native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander population that is under 18 [PDF]; 5 percent are 65 or over. Meanwhile, 26 percent of people identifying themselves as either Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races are under 18 [PDF]; 8 percent are 65 or over. |
Education50%
The percentage of Asians, age 25 and over, who have a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education. Asians have the highest proportion of college graduates of any race or ethnic group in the country. The corresponding rate for all adults in this age group is 27 percent.
16%
The percentage of native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders, age 25 and older, who have at least a bachelor’s degree (Table: PCT035E).
88%
The percentage of Asians, age 25 and over, who are high school graduates. The corresponding rate for all adults in this age group is 85 percent. |
Income and Poverty$54,656
The two-year-average (2002-2003) median income of households whose householders reported their race as Asian and/or native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander, but did not report any other race.
11.1%
The two-year average (2002-2003) poverty rate for those who reported their race as either Asian or native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander (and may or may not have reported any other race). |
82%
The percentage of native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, age 25 and older, who are high school graduates (Table: PCT035E).
19%
The percentage of Asians, age 25 and over, who have an advanced degree (e.g., master’s, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.). The corresponding rate for all adults in the age group is 9 percent. |
Serving Our Nation276,000
The number of Asian-American military veterans (Table: P056D). There are 25,000 veterans who are of native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander heritage (Table: P056E). |
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4%
The percentage of native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders, age 25 and older, who have obtained a graduate degree (Table: PCT035E).
 Languages
2.2 million
The number of people who speak Chinese at home (Table: P034). Next to Spanish, Chinese is the most widely spoken non-English language in the country. Also among the top 10 most frequently spoken languages are: Tagalog (1.3 million); Vietnamese (1.1 million); and Korean (966,959).
27,160
The number of people who speak Hawaiian at home. |
Counties186,200
The number of native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders who live in Honolulu County, Hawaii, which has the largest population of this race of any county in the nation. Bronx County, N.Y., registered the largest numerical increase of native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders (4,100) between 2000 and 2003.
1.3 million
The number of Asians in Los Angeles County, Calif., which tops the nation’s counties. This county also experienced the largest numerical increase of Asians (76,700) from 2000 to 2003. |
| Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau Facts for Features series: |
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 17) & African-American History Month (February)
- Valentine's Day (Feb. 14)
- Women's History Month (March)
- Irish-American Heritage Month (March)/
St. Patrick's Day (March 17)
- Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (May)
- Older Americans Month (May)
- Mother's Day (May 8)
- Father's Day (June 19)
- The Fourth of July (July 4)
- Anniversary of Americans With Disabilities Act (July 26)
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- Back to School (August)
- Labor Day (Sept. 5)
- Grandparents Day (Sept. 11)
- Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)
- Halloween (Oct. 31)
- American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month (November)
- Veterans Day (Nov. 11)
- Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)
- The Holiday Season (December)
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Individual source links for each statement herein may be accessed on the Internet at
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/004522.html>.
The photos herein may be downloaded and are available free for your use in all print and broadcast products.
Please credit the U.S. Census Bureau. For product information, call (301) 763-3011 or e-mail <pio.broadcast.services@census.gov>.
Editor’s note: Some of the preceding data were collected in surveys and, therefore, are subject to sampling error. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office at (301) 763-3030; fax (301) 457-3670; or e-mail <pio@census.gov>. |
