The story of income and poverty among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, or AAPIs, is a tale of contrasts. On the one hand are certain groups with household incomes that are higher than the national average, such as Indian and Filipino Americans whose selective migration patterns to the United States are characterized by a relatively high level of employer-based, high-skilled visas. Conversely, Southeast Asian populations such as Cambodian, Hmong, and Laotian Americans—who predominantly came to the United States as refugees with limited educational attainment in their home countries—have relatively high levels of poverty and low levels of household income. Poverty rates are also high among particular Pacific Islander groups, and there are also important variations in poverty rates by geography and nativity.
