Indian Americans Now Largest US Asian Group

In 2020, the Asian Indian population in the United States claimed the title of the largest Asian-only group, marking an astounding growth of over 50 percent since 2010, reaching a total of 4,397,737 individuals. Despite this, Chinese Americans remained the top group in the broader Asian demographic category. When considering individuals who identify as either a single race or multiracial, Chinese Americans (excluding Taiwanese) continued to hold the leading position as the most populous Asian identification, comprising a total of 5.2 million people.

Following closely behind were the next four largest Asian groups, either alone or in any combination, and their population growth from 2010 to 2020. These included Filipino individuals, totaling 4,436,992 (a growth of 29.9 percent), Vietnamese individuals at 2,293,392 (with a growth rate of 32.0 percent), Korean individuals numbering 1,989,519 (experiencing a growth of 16.6 percent), and Japanese individuals, amounting to 1,586,652 (showing a growth of 20.6 percent).

While the majority of Asian groups witnessed population growth, the Japanese alone population and the Laotian alone population were exceptions, both experiencing a decline in their numbers during the past decade. However, it’s noteworthy that their combined populations, including those who identified as either alone or in any combination, increased by 20.6 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively.

Notably, the Nepalese population emerged as the fastest-growing Asian group, experiencing a remarkable surge of over 250 percent. This growth was observed in both the Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination categories among populations exceeding 50,000 in 2010. Specifically, the Nepalese alone population increased by an astonishing 295.5 percent, rising from 51,907 in 2010 to 205,297 in 2020. The Nepalese population, whether counted alone or in any combination, expanded from 59,490 to 219,503, marking a staggering 269.0 percent increase over the decade.

Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of the nonprofit group AAPI Data, emphasized the significance of these demographic shifts, stating, “It is momentous. Americans’ perception of who is Asian is still very much informed by demographic patterns from a century ago. They think of East Asians as quintessentially Asian and are less likely to think of South Asians as Asian … Well, the demographic realities have shifted away from the stereotype.”