5 Facts About Indian Americans | Pew Research Center

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SEPTEMBER 30, 2014

5 facts about Indian AmericansBY DREW DESILVER (HTTP://WWW.PEWRESEARCH.ORG/AUTHOR/DDESILVER/)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rapturous reception (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09

/29/world/asia/narendra-modi-madison-square-garden-obama.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&

version=HpSumSmallMedia&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0) in NewYork City on Sunday, speaking to more than 19,000 people — largely Indian Americans, according to TheNew York Times — at Madison Square Garden. During his packed five-day visit (http://qz.com/265670/heres-

the-itinerary-of-narendra-modis-insanely-busy-us-visit/) , Modi also addressed the UN General Assembly andmet with a bevy of U.S. business leaders Monday morning before heading to an “intimate dinner” withPresident Obama.

This is the first official trip to the U.S. for Modi, who was elected in May. His visit not only marks an effortto repair strained U.S.-India relations, but also spotlights the growing presence of Indians and IndianAmericans in American life. Two sitting governors (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-09-28

/news/54400517_1_youngest-current-governor-pm-modi-prime-minister-narendra-modi) (Louisiana’s BobbyJindal and South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, both Republicans) are of Indian ancestry; so are Preet Bharara(http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/meetattorney.html) , U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, andNeel Kashkari (http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/neel-kashkari-the-700-billion-man-makes-a-bid-

for-governor-in-california/2014/09/28/cbf8877c-45cf-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html) , former TreasuryDepartment official and current GOP candidate for California governor.

In 2012, the Pew Research Center released a pair of reports on Asian Americans — one focused ondemographics and attitudes (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/) , theother on religion (http://www.pewforum.org/2012/07/19/asian-americans-a-mosaic-of-faiths-overview/) .The reports, which drew from 2010 census data and 2012 survey results, included much information aboutthe country’s nearly 3.2 million Indian Americans; we’ve selected a sampling of facts from both reports:

Many Indian Americans are recent arrivals. 87.2% of Indian-American adults in 2010 wereforeign-born, the highest percentage among the six largest Asian-American groups; 37.6% of those

had been in the U.S. 10 years or less. One consequence of so many Indian Americans having arrived sorecently: Only 56.2% of adults were U.S. citizens, the lowest share among the six subgroups studied indetail.

Indian Americans are among the most highly educated racial or ethnic groups in the U.S. 70% ofIndian Americans aged 25 and older had college degrees in 2010, by far the highest rate among the sixAsian-American groups studied and 2.5 times the rate among the overall U.S. population. More recent(2013) data from the American Community Survey provides more detail: 40.6% of Indian Americans 25

5 facts about Indian Americans | Pew Research Center http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/30/5-facts-about...

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2 and older have graduate or professionaldegrees, and 32.3% have bachelor’s degrees; an

additional 10.4% have some college education. Onelikely factor: the large segment of Indian Americanswho entered the country under the H1-B visaprogram, which allow highly skilled foreign workersin designated “specialty occupations” to work in theU.S. In 2011, for example, 72,438 Indians receivedH1-B visas, 56% of all such visas granted that year.

Not all Indian Americans are Hindu. Only abouthalf (51%) of Indian Americans are Hindu, thoughnearly all Asian-American Hindus (93%) trace theirheritage to India, according to our 2012 survey. 18%of Indian Americans identified themselves asChristians (as both Haley and Jindal do); 10% saidthey were Muslim. The religious shares of IndianAmericans are markedly different from those of Indiaitself (where an estimated 79.5% of the population isHindu and only 2.5% is Christian, according to PewResearch’s 2012 Global Religious Landscape(http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/table-religious-

composition-by-country-in-numbers/) report), reflectingdifferential migration patterns.

Indian Americans generally are well-off. Median annual household income for Indian Americans in2010 was $88,000, much higher than for all Asian Americans ($66,000) and all U.S. households($49,800) — perhaps not surprising, given their high education levels. Only 9% of adult Indian Americanslive in poverty, compared with 12% of Asian Americans overall and 13% of the U.S. population. In 2010, byour analysis, 28% of Indian American worked in science and engineering fields; according to the 2013American Community Survey, more than two-thirds (69.3%) of Indian Americans 16 and older were inmanagement, business, science and arts occupations.

Indian Americans lean left. 65% of Indian Americans were Democrats or leaned toward the Democrats,making them the Asian-American subgroup most likely to identify with the Democratic Party. An identicalshare of Indian Americans approved of Obama’s job performance in 2012.


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POSTS EMAIL @DREWDESILVER

Drew DeSilver (http://www.pewresearch.org/author/ddesilver/) is a senior writer at PewResearch Center.

29 Comments

Sandeep Sharma • 3 weeks ago (#comment-652132)

Try once to claim any indian for lifetime experience.., you will acknowledge yourself that what are the

unearthing facts of this context that you are forging.. well brother.. we have strong faiths and belief in

our ancient epics, culture etc., we are culture loving, traditional people and religious.., mention us here

if you have such things like.. we have own values unlike you all.. it is accepted that you are very ahead

from us ..but what are your success stories behind this? we are ahead on with our stronger moralitty not

alone only… we love politeness we don’t use to criticised we allow to everybody, our language is not the


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language for the name only its one of component of our religious which teaches us that how you can support to

mankind in their hardship. If you are claiming then I ensure you that you can be wrong for many points and at the

end of this you have to be changed your prospective, ultimately you would have to change your mind.. and not

with Indians only….for all mankind here, they are also human being like you!! thanks for reading!! jai mata di..

paacha aaojo !!

Reply

Karan Johar • 2 months ago (#comment-651154)

americanindianinaction.blogspot.com (http://americanindianinaction.blogspot.com/) a new blog dedicated

to indian americans in the US.

Reply

Melvin • 2 months ago (#comment-650889)

I work with Indian engineers here in USA working for Aero space industry . Man! They are just brilliant !

Their work ethics are just awesome! They are mild tempered and always willing to help others. You can

never see an Indian American who is rude and treat others with dis respect. Their attitude is just

superb!

Welcome to America !

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Gavin Grady • 2 months ago (#comment-650373)

have more facts

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ankit • 3 months ago (#comment-649438)

Hello brother; we Indians are not uneducated we are very well aware of our culture and family relations..

our mother tounge is “Hindi” not English but we don’t igno it..

we respect you it doesn’t means we are not strong..It is my culture and our Earth we should respect

each other my friend..NAMASTE

Reply

John Abraham • 3 months ago (#comment-650000)

hindi ?! maybe up north, but india as a whole has hundreds of different languages, just because

our national language is hindi does not mean every INDIAN has to speak it. NAMASKARAM !

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Kraem • 3 months ago (#comment-650011)

More Indians speak fluent English in India than in Britain. About 120 Million to be precise! Thats

10% of India’s total population altogether!

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Thomas Smith • 4 months ago (#comment-648798)

I generally like Indian people in the US a lot, they’re seriously awesome people…but I do have one

question — why do they vote Democrat? Most conservatives are generally much more pro-India than

liberals, look how much Obama funds Pakistan…

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LT Spiceman • 3 months ago (#comment-649493)

The Republicans under Nixon even sent in USS Enterprise to bomb India in the 1971 war with

Pakistan. More to the point, Republicans are tied to christian evangelicals who convert Hindus in

India . Bobby Jindal or Nikki Haley would not have been elected on the Republican ticket, if they

had not converted to Xtianity. Republicans like Indians, and dislike Hindus

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Krishna • 3 months ago (#comment-649636)

Most Indians who arrived here believe in a fair chance for everyone regardless of the situation

they were born in, that is the reason they are here – instead of stagnating where they came from.

Republican ideology believes in keeping rich people rich and poor people poor – kind of a

caste/class system that the Indian immigrants here have moved here to escape from. So

naturally, they identify as democrats. The Indians who still have a mindset of class system

(thankfully, the minority), vote Republican.

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Mitra • 2 months ago (#comment-650434)

I have noticed that most of the older Indians who immigrated back in the 70s generally tend to

be Republican and are more likely to give funding to the Republican party. That’s the only reason

why Republicans tolerate Indians. Money. I think the newer generation has caught on to that,

somewhat. I personally believe neither party really cares about Indian Americans. Indian

Americans may be rich, but they don’t have the numbers to make a difference during the

elections, which is why both parties treat Indians fairly indifferently. They both want our money

but don’t care about our votes.

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Janet • 7 months ago (#comment-553401)

Let’s stop calling Native Indians, “Indians”, they are not “Indians” and aboriginal American would be

more appropriate way to go.

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Jerry Donel • 7 months ago (#comment-549204)

This article is TOTALLY misleading! There are BIG differences between Native American Indians (which


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you seem to have ignored) and East Indians and other foreigners (who you clearly favor). So when are you going to

get the facts straight and publish a revised and corrected article?

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Sammy • 7 months ago (#comment-561178)

This article is all about Asian Indian Americans, as one can tell with mentions of PM Narendra

Modi. This article does not talk about Native Americans, and so therefore, you don’t need to

include them in the presented statistics. There is nothing misleading about this article.

Reply

Sharad Jogal • 6 months ago (#comment-591262)

There is absolutely no confusion about using the term “Indian Americans”. I understand that this

is the precise nomenclature used when “Indian Americans” were given recognition as a minority

community, perhaps in the EEOC directive around 1988.

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D. Maclean • 7 months ago (#comment-546027)

When you refer to “Indians”….shouldn’t there be a distinction between East Indians and Native

Americans? Or is the word “Indian”, when referring to America’s indigenous population, a racial slur?

Reply

sree • 7 months ago (#comment-562126)

Columbus / Americus Vespucci took western route to reach India & hit land of present America,

but thought they hit India. So they called natives who tried to run seeing them as Indians…Since

then native Americans were called Indians..India is 5000 yrs old ..and 7000 yrs old

civilization…haha

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Howard Reston • 7 months ago (#comment-545756)

Indians generally do not come to the US unless they are somewhat well off. And that usually means they

have a comparable education to go with it. There aren’t really a lot” of refugees” coming from India like

there are from countries like Vietnam or Central America.

Reply

Krishna • 3 months ago (#comment-649635)

Many of the people who came here were not “well off”, but had engineering degrees before they

arrived. You could say they were well off academically. Not many were ‘well off’ even by Indian

standards.

Reply


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Muthyavan. • 7 months ago (#comment-545718)

Indian civilization is the oldest and is the richest with many spoken languages with oldest literatures .

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seetharaman • 7 months ago (#comment-545491)

No surprise here. Less skilled or less educated Indians are always denied visas to US.

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denbaumgartner • 7 months ago (#comment-545648)

Good! We don’t need anymore uneducated people here…we have too many as it is!

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BeautifulGorgeous • 7 months ago (#comment-549235)

I was thinking along the same lines. It would be very difficult for someone living in poverty to

obtain the appropriate paperwork and funds necessary to emigrate from India. I believe statistics

re: this disparity should have been included in study.

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Pedro • 8 months ago (#comment-544601)

The Democratic Party is not a left-wing party, just more inclined towards the centre than the Republican

Party.

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Paul Dulaney • 7 months ago (#comment-545612)

The Republican Party is not a right-wing party, just more inclined toward the center than the

Democratic Party.

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john smith • 7 months ago (#comment-549333)

The Republican party is a party of the rich for the rich and by the rich. That means about

1% of the citizens. The rest are fooled into believing that (a) they are the rich or (b) the

Republican party is for average American.

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Judy • 7 months ago (#comment-557302)

You got it!


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axt113 • 7 months ago (#comment-550144)

Anyone who thinks the GOP is centrist in any way is deluded.

The GOP abandoned the Center decades ago

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Connie • 7 months ago (#comment-552182)

Today’s democrat party borders on communism!!!!!! The democrats policies have contributed to

poverty. You should read more about Republicans. They truly are the party of the middle class!

Reply


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5 Facts About Indian Americans | Pew Research Center