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Amanda Ong
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AAPI Data Releases Timely New Guide on AANHPIs and Labor
New resource provides crucial insights on AANHPI labor across survey, community, and government data sources
May 26, 2026 — AAPI Data is excited to share By the Numbers: Labor, a new resource guide that provides detailed information on the AANHPI labor force, including data on low-wage workers, union membership, and most common industries and occupations for AANHPIs.
“Given the current economy and rising anxiety around employment and labor, it’s crucial that we have relevant data about AAPI workers,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “In order to effectively advocate for better conditions and wages for AAPI communities, we are grateful to be able to provide disaggregated data and timely insights in partnership with our policy and community partners.”
Key findings in the resource guide include:
- AANHPI workers are more than 1 million strong in the union movement, but union membership rates vary sharply — NHPI workers (12.5%) are among the most unionized of any racial group nationally, while Asian American workers (8.8%) rank among the lowest, just above American Indian/Alaska Native workers.
- Filipino and Japanese workers lead Asian American subgroups in union membership (15% and 14%), driven by concentration in public sector and healthcare roles — while Asian Indian workers, heavily concentrated in tech, have the lowest rate of any AANHPI subgroup at just 4%.
- Nearly 1 in 4 AANHPI workers are low-wage, but this average conceals dramatic variation: Taiwanese and Asian Indian workers have rates as low as 13–16%, while Marshallese and Other Micronesian workers face rates approaching 50% — a gap of more than 35 percentage points within the same broad community.
- Language access is a significant driver of economic vulnerability: LEP AANHPI workers are roughly twice as likely to earn low wages as their English-proficient counterparts, with LEP rates reaching 44% for Asian Americans and 45% for NHPI workers.
- AANHPI workers are heavily concentrated in computer, engineering, and science occupations (19% vs. 8% for all U.S. workers) and healthcare (10% vs. 7%), but these averages mask a sharp internal divide — non-citizen Asian Americans are in tech at more than twice the rate of U.S.-born citizens (31% vs. 13%), while NHPI workers’ occupational profile more closely resembles the U.S. average.
“We have seen the growth of AANHPI union density in recent years that tracks with what is happening to the expansion of AANHPI voters as part of the electorate,” said Sandra Engle, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). “AANHPI union members have used their collective power with their co-workers to improve their wages and working conditions to a remarkable degree. Without question, supporting organizing in all forms in our communities benefits everyone.”
“Accurate data on the labor force participation of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities is so important, because it helps legislators shape meaningful policies that strengthen working conditions,” said Lucero Herrera, senior research analyst at the UCLA Labor Center. “When we have an accurate understanding of key factors like wages, most common industries and occupations, and union participation, we can better identify solutions that improve job quality and advance protections for workers.”
By the Numbers: Labor is the latest in a series of timely and user-friendly guides that AAPI Data has produced to help the work of journalists, policy makers, and community partners. These guides provide curated access to resources on AAPI Data’s website, including survey data and demographic data via the Community Data Explorer.
Past topics for By the Numbers have included resource guides on education, economic hardship, immigration, and health.
About AAPI Data
AAPI Data is a national research and policy organization producing accurate data to support community narratives that drive action toward enduring solutions for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. Learn more at aapidata.com.