Only 6% of Indian Americans lived along or below the poverty line as of 2022 in the United States. This is the lowest share among the various Asian groups that live in the country, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. Most Asian Americans who lived in poverty felt that their ‘American dream’ was out of reach as they struggled to pay bills and turned to charities, friends, and family for food and employment. Pew’s analysis was based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) and Pew Research Center’s 2022-23 survey of Asian American adults, conducted between July 2022 and January 2023, with 7,006 respondents.
While Asian Americans are considered educationally and financially successful compared to other racial and ethnic groups, there are wide economic and educational differences within the group. As Chart 1 shows, the highest poverty rates were seen among Burmese (19%), Hmong (17%), and Mongolian (16%) Americans, while the lowest poverty rates were seen among Indian (6%), Sri Lankan (6%) and Filipino (7%) Americans. Chinese, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani-origin Americans were in the middle with poverty rates of 11%, 12% and 13%, respectively.
Chart 1 shows origin-wise share of Asian Americans who lived along or below the poverty line as of 2022.
