Chinese Americans are the largest subgroup of Asian Americans, comprising approximately 20% of all Asian Americans. Of the estimated 5.2 million Chinese Americans, about 907,700 (30%) were US born, while about 2.1 million (70%) were foreign born; about 1.24 million were naturalized US citizens, and about 876,000 were not US citizens.
Chinese Americans are a heterogeneous population with regard to language, education, and socioeconomic status (Chang, 2003; Lum, 1995; American Community Survey 2005-2007). According to the United States Census, about 26% of the Asian American population spoke English only, while 73.5% spoke a language other than English. About 42% reported they “do not speak English very well.”
In 2019, approximately 53% of Asian Americans live in 3 states: California (939,513), New York (231,771), and Texas (15,808). Only three states have ten percent or more of their population identify as Asian alone – Hawaii, California, and New Jersey. Hawaii, Washington, and Nevada have the highest population of people that identify as Asian and another race. The 2016-2020 American Community Survey showed that “the largest Asian alone population in Seattle (124,204) and Boston (152,274) metro areas was Chinese, except Taiwanese.”