In 1965, the Asian-American share of the US population stood at less than 1 percent—having been held down by a century’s worth of exclusionary policies explicitly based on race. That was the year—at the height of the civil rights movement and in the heat of a roaring economy—that the US government opened the gates to immigration from all parts of the world, Asia included. The effect has been transformative for the nation and for Asian Americans. Today they make up nearly 6% of the US population. And in an economy that increasingly relies on highly skilled workers, they are the best-educated, highest-income, fastest-growing race group in the country.

This report sets out to draw a comprehensive portrait of Asian Americans. It examines their demographic characteristics; their social, political and family values; their life goals, their economic circumstances and language usage patterns; their sense of identity and belonging; their attitudes about work, education and career; their marriage and parenting norms; their views on intermarriage and filial obligation; their perceptions about discrimination and intergroup relations; and the nature of their ties to their countries of origin. It makes comparisons on most of these measures with the attitudes and experiences of the US general public—and, where relevant, with those of other major race and ethnic groups in this country. It also explores similarities and differences among Asian Americans themselves, a diverse population with distinctive languages, religions, cultures, histories and pathways to the United States. The analysis makes comparisons between Asian immigrants and US-born Asians, as well as among the six largest Asian American country of origin subgroups—Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans and Japanese Americans.