Pew Demographic Analysis: Asian American Population Reaches 24 Million

The Asian American population reached 24 million, according to an analysis of 2019 U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday (April 29) by the Pew Research Center.

The Washington-based research group previously predicted that the Asian American population will reach 46 million by 2060 and that Asian Americans will be the largest immigrant group in the United States by that time.

The Pew Center said Thursday that nearly all of the Asian American population comes from 19 groups of Asian origin, and that Chinese Americans make up 23 percent of the Asian American population.

In terms of geographic distribution, the Pew Center said 45 percent of Asian-Americans live in the western states and 24 percent live in the southern states.

In 2017, about 14 percent of the 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. came from Asia, the Pew Center reported.

Overall 57 percent of Asian Americans were born outside the U.S., the Pew Center said.

From 2000 to 2019, the population of Bhutanese, Nepalese and Burmese descent had the fastest growth rates, with Laotian and Japanese descent growing the slowest, according to the Pew Center’s analysis.