Indian Americans have lowest poverty rate among all Asian groups living in US

The poverty rate among them was only six per cent, compared to Burmese and Hmong American groups with high rates such as 19 and 17 per cent, respectively, said a study.

• Shubham
• 05 April, 2024

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By: Shubham Ghosh

MORE than two million people with Asian roots in the US were spending days in poverty in 2022, a new study by Pew Research Center has said. Data from the US Census Bureau have shown that one out of every 10 Asian Americans live in poverty.

However, Indian-Americans are doing better than any other Asian-American group as the poverty rate among them is six per cent — the lowest among all other Asian groups residing in the US.

In case of Burmese and Hmong Americans, the rate of poverty is as high as 19 and 17 per cent, respectively.

The Pew Research study also said that one out of every three Asian Americans aged 25 and above and living in poverty possess a bachelor’s degree. They are also less likely to live in poverty (five per cent) compared to those with lower levels of education (13 per cent).

Read: India’s poverty at its lowest, Modi says, gives credit to his 10-year governance

It was also said that most Asian Americans, around six out of 10, who were living in poverty were immigrants. Not many of them spoke English very well either.

Nearly a million Asians living below the poverty mark in the US are located in 10 big cities of the country. More than half a million live in just three cities — New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Each of these cities are home to more than 100,000 Asians living in poverty and together, they make up 26 per cent of all Asian Americans who are living in poverty.

Read: British-Asian families suffer as poverty rises in UK: report

Among those Asian adults living in poverty, 57 per cent could not save money for emergencies, which is higher than the 40 per cent of Asian adults above the poverty mark who went through the same problem.

Thirty eight per cent of Asian adults living in poverty depended on food banks or charitable organisations for food, which is about six times more than the six per cent Asians who live above the poverty line.