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Chinese, Except Taiwanese, Was The Largest Asian Alone or in Any Combination Group; Nepalese Population Grew Fastest

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The Asian Indian alone population became the nation’s largest Asian alone population group in 2020, growing by over 50% to 4,397,737 between 2010 and 2020.

The nation’s most populous Asian alone or in any combination group in 2020 was the Chinese, except Taiwanese population with 5.2 million, an increase of 37.2% since 2010.

The Japanese alone population and the Laotian alone population were the only detailed Asian groups to experience a decrease during the decade but their alone or in any combination populations increased by 20.6% and 9.5%, respectively.

2020 Census demographic characteristics on 41 detailed Asian groups released today show that the Nepalese population increased over 250% and was the fastest growing Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination group among those with populations of 50,000 or more in 2010 (Table 1).

The Nepalese alone population increased 295.5% from 51,907 in 2010 to 205,297 in 2020. The Nepalese alone or in any combination population grew from 59,490 to 219,503, a 269.0% increase over the decade.

In this article, we present data from the race question on detailed race alone and race alone or in any combination populations.

The race alone population includes respondents who reported one response, such as Filipino. The race alone or in any combination population includes respondents who reported one response, such as Filipino, and it also includes respondents who reported more than one, such as Filipino and Asian Indian or Filipino and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. The race alone or in any combination population represents the maximum number of people who identified as that detailed group.

As our country becomes much more diverse and multiracial, this information is important to frame the discussion of racial and ethnic composition and help us understand our country’s changing demographics.

Largest Asian Alone Groups in 2020

The Asian Indian alone population increased 54.7% to 4,397,737 between 2010 and 2020 to become the most populous Asian alone group in the nation.

The next largest Asian alone groups and their population change from 2010 to 2020:

  • Chinese, except Taiwanese alone, 4,128,718 (up 31.6%).
  • Filipino alone, 3,076,108 (up 20.4%).
  • Vietnamese alone, 1,951,746 (up 26.0%).
  • Korean alone, 1,508,575 (up 6.0%).
  • Japanese alone, 741,544 (down 3.2%).     

The Japanese alone population and the Laotian alone population were the only detailed Asian groups to experience a decrease during the decade but their alone or in any combination populations increased by 20.6% and 9.5%, respectively.

Chinese, except Taiwanese Population, Still Largest Asian Alone or in Any Combination Group

The Chinese, except Taiwanese alone or in any combination population, which was the largest group in 2010, remained so in 2020, increasing 37.2%, from 3,794,673 to 5,205,461.

The Asian Indian alone or in any combination population increased 49.8% to 4,768,846 and was the second largest group in 2020.

The next four largest Asian alone or in any combination groups and their population growth from 2010 to 2020:

  • Filipino alone or in any combination, 4,436,992 (up 29.9%).
  • Vietnamese alone or in any combination, 2,293,392 (up 32.0%).
  • Korean alone or in any combination, 1,989,519 (up 16.6%).
  • Japanese alone or in any combination, 1,586,652 (up 20.6%).

To learn more about the 2020 population size of all detailed Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination groups for the nation, states, and counties, including less populous groups such as Laotian, Sikh, Hmong, Bhutanese, and more, explore the Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census data visualization.

States With Highest Shares of Largest Asian Groups

Of the six largest detailed Asian alone or in any combination groups, the largest share of each group (more than 18%) lived in California in 2020.

New York had the second largest proportions of the Chinese, except Taiwanese (15.9%) and Korean (8.1%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Texas was the state with the second largest proportions of Asian Indian (10.6%) and Vietnamese (14.2%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Hawaii had the second largest proportions of the Filipino (8.6%) and Japanese (19.7%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Washington became an increasingly popular place of residence and is now in the top five home states for all but the Asian Indian alone or in any combination population. That’s a change from 2010 [PDF 2.6 MB] when Washington was in the top five only for the Filipino, Japanese and Vietnamese alone or in any combination populations.

Washington has now surpassed New Jersey to become the state with the fifth largest proportion of the Chinese, except Taiwanese alone or in any combination population and has surpassed Virginia as the state with the fifth largest proportion of the Korean alone or in any combination population.

Largest Detailed Asian Groups in Counties with Largest Asian Populations

The Chinese, except Taiwanese population was the largest detailed Asian alone or in any combination group in six of the 10 counties (Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Alameda in California, Queens and Kings counties in New York, and King County, Washington) with the largest Asian alone or in combination populations in 2020 (Table 2).

The Filipino population made up the largest share of the Asian alone or in combination population in both Honolulu County, Hawaii (42.9% or 271,235) and San Diego County, California (41.6% or 215,168).

The Asian Indian population was the largest detailed Asian alone or in any combination group in only one of the 10 counties: Cook County, Illinois (134,169).

Similarly, the Vietnamese population was the largest detailed group (241,557) in only one of the counties: Orange County, California.

The Korean population in Los Angeles County accounted for the third largest Asian alone or in any combination group in that county.

The Japanese population and the Pakistani population were the only groups to appear once among the top three largest Asian alone or in any combination groups.

The Japanese alone or in any combination population in Honolulu County, Hawaii (244,700) was the second largest Asian alone or in any combination group in that county.

The Pakistani alone or in any combination population in Kings County, New York accounted for the third largest Asian alone or in any combination group in that county.

Data comparisons between the 2020 Census and 2010 Census race data should be made with caution, taking into account the improvements we have made to the race question and the ways we code what people tell us.

Data Visualization

Related Information

The Technical Documentation [PDF 10.6 MB] provides more information on data quality and how the Census Bureau collects, codes and tabulates statistics on race and Hispanic or Latino origin.

Information on the application of differential privacy and data accuracy for the 2020 Census at various levels of geography are available on the 2020 Census Data Products: Disclosure Avoidance Modernization webpage.

2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A on America Counts

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Brittany Rico and Cody Spence are demographic statisticians in the Racial Statistics Branch in the Census Bureau’s Population Division.

Joyce Key Hahn is a demographic statistician in the Foreign-Born Population Branch in the Census Bureau’s Population Division.

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Page Last Revised - November 1, 2023
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