Indian Americans are richest, best educated race in the US: Pew study

Friday, 6 July 2012 - 9:24am India News Bulletin Desk

India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, in the New York City Metropolitan Area, USA.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Asian Americans, particularly Indian Americans, are the richest, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the US, revealed a survey from Pew Research Center.

Asians surpassed the Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the US, according to the study from the US-based fact tank and research firm.

The study, called “The rise of Asian Americans”, also found that a majority (61%) of Asian immigrants in the 25 to 64 age bracket have at least a bachelor’s degree.

This was double the number of non-Asian immigrants who achieved an equivalent academic level. This also made the recent Asian immigrants the most highly educated cohort of immigrants in US history, the study found.

The Asian Americans, surveyed in the report, belonged to countries in the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Despite differences in their Asian origin, Asian Americans as a whole, surpassed the US adults in median annual household income at $66,000 against native Americans’ $49,800. Their median household wealth was also higher at $83,500 as against the native Americans’ $68,529.

Among the Asian sub-group, Indian Americans surpassed all other groups by a significant margin in their levels of income and education, the study further revealed.

Seven out of ten Indian American adults aged 25 and above cited that they have a college degree, compared with about half of other sub groups such as Korean, Chinese, Filipino and Japanese ancestry.