According to the 2000 U.S. Census there are 186,310 Hmong living in the U.S., a 97% increase since 1990.
States with the highest populations are:
- California (95,000)
- Minnesota (70,000)
- Wisconsin (50,000)
- North Carolina, (20,000)
- Michigan (15,000)
Leaders within the Hmong American community believe these statistics are a 50-60% under representation, primarily due to language barriers in completing the census report (Doyle, 2001; Pfeifer, 2001).
The 2000 census reports that of the total number of Hmong Americans:
- 55.6% were foreign born with 30% of these persons being naturalized citizens
- 45.3% had no formal education
- 34.8% were “linguistically isolated”
- 38.4% were at or below the poverty level
- 2.8% were 65 years or older