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2010 Census Shows Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders Surpassed One Million

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According to the 2010 Census, 1.2 million people, or 0.4 percent of all people in the United States, identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI), either alone or in combination with one or more races. This population grew by 40 percent from 2000 to 2010. People who reported being Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone totaled 540,000, an increase of 35 percent from 2000 to 2010. The multiple-race Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population, as well as both the NHPI alone and NHPI alone-or-in-combination populations, all grew at a faster rate than the total U.S. population, which increased by 9.7 percent from 2000 to 2010.

Geographically, the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population experienced growth in every state in the country.  In fact, 32 states and the District of Columbia experienced an increase of more than 50 percent in their NHPI populations.

The figure shown presents the 6 largest detailed NHPI alone or in any combination groups in 2000 and 2010. The “in-any-combination ” population represents the maximum number of people who identified with a particular detailed NHPI group (including people who reported that NHPI group and/or another NHPI group or race).

Native Hawaiian was the largest detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander group, numbering more than half a million.

In the 2010 Census, Native Hawaiian was the largest detailed NHPI group in the United States, numbering more than one-half million in 2010, up from just over 400,000 in 2000. There were 156,146 people who reported Native Hawaiian with no additional detailed NHPI group or race group, and an additional 370,931 people who reported Native Hawaiian in combination with one or more other races and/or detailed NHPI groups.  Thus, 527,077 people reported Native Hawaiian alone or in any combination.

The Samoan population and the Guamanian or Chamorro population were the second and third largest detailed NHPI groups in the United States.

In 2010, there were 109,637 people who reported only Samoan and an additional 74,803 who reported Samoan in combination with one or more other races and/or detailed NHPI groups. This sums to 184,440 people who reported Samoan alone or in any combination.

There were 88,310 people who reported Guamanian or Chamorro alone and an additional 59,488 who reported Guamanian or Chamorro in combination with one or more other races and/or detailed NHPI groups. Thus, 147,798 people reported Guamanian or Chamorro alone or in any combination.

Although Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Guamanians or Chamorros were the largest detailed NHPI alone or in any combination groups, they grew at slower rates than Tongans, Fijians, and Marshallese and much slower than many of the smaller detailed NHPI groups. The Tongan population grew by over one-half in size (from 36,840 in 2000 to 57,183 in 2010). Fijian more than doubled in size over the decade, increasing from 13,581 to 32,304. Marshallese more than tripled in size, increasing from 6,650 to 22,434.

The report provides statistics for additional detailed NHPI groups, such as Tahitians, Palauans, and Papua New Guineans. For more information on the NHPI population, see the 2010 Census Brief:

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Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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