In September 2024, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) worked in collaboration with AAPI Data to produce a set of national data on population counts and population estimates on a variety of outcomes ranging from educational attainment and poverty, to home ownership, English proficiency, and access to health insurance.

Note: Due to sample size limitations in some tables such as unemployment data from the Current Population Survey, detailed origin is available only for the six largest Asian groups, and is not available for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups.

 Download the 2024 National Factsheet

Key Facts At a Glance

Disaggregated data, or detailed origin data, reveal significant community needs that are often hidden or masked by averaged racial data for Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

Education

  • There are stark differences in educational attainment among AA and NHPI communities. The following groups are among those least likely to have completed an associate’s degree or higher: Marshallese, Bhutanese, Samoan, Burmese, Laotian, Tongan, Native Hawaiian, Cambodian, Fijian, Chamorro, Hmong, and Vietnamese.

Poverty

  • One in 10 Asian Americans lives in poverty, and 12.3% live below 200% of the federal poverty line, making them eligible for many state programs.
  • Poverty is high among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (16.3%, and among
    Burmese, Bangladeshi, Mongolian, and Nepalese Americans.

Language Access

  • Asian Americans have among the highest language access needs of any racial group (27.9%), and this is related to their high rates of immigration (74.6% of Asian Americans are foreign born, and most foreign born persons have arrived after 2000).
  • Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders also have significant language access needs, as 11.8% are limited English proficient, meaning that they speak English less than “very well.”

Housing

  • Many detailed Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups have homeownership rates below the U.S. average.
  • Asian American and NHPI individuals are more likely than the U.S. average to live in multi-generational households.

The 2024 National Overview of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Communities can be downloaded here (PDF).