SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES ASIAN AMERICAN PROFILES (2022)

The Asian American Center presents the results of a landmark collaborative study with Carolina Demography. This study of the Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the Southeast sheds new light on this rapidly growing and diversifying group.

The seven “one-pagers” available here offer information on demographics such as race, age, income, and citizenship status for:

1. A nationwide benchmark
2. The Southeastern U.S. (states specified)
3. North Carolina and four North Carolina metro areas with high Asian American populations:
   1. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
   2. Durham-Chapel Hill and Raleigh-Cary
   3. Greensboro-High Point and Winston-Salem
   4. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton

 

Data for these studies was drawn from the 2020 U.S. Census data available in 2022 for the Asian American & Pacific Islander population (AAPI). (At the time of the study, disaggregated Census data by Asian ethnicity was not available.) Additional disaggregation by ethnicity/national origin is presented from the 2019 American Community Survey.

The disaggregation of AAPI groups is one of the most important issues for properly addressing disparities and inequities. In that spirit, the graphics of the one-pagers present not only the group AAPI numbers but show some individual ethnic group data to illustrate the diversity within the AAPI group. Additional disaggregation is readily available in the charts on the second page. As always, efforts at capturing demographic data may miss certain things or under/oversample certain populations; such findings must also be placed in historical and social context to understand differences. We hope that this work will be helpful to researchers, community organizations, local governments, and others who seek to understand local communities.

Organizations and individuals are welcome to use these one-pagers and data. We ask that both the UNC Asian American Center and Carolina Demography be cited/credited. Also, we would love to know how you’ve used this data, what may be useful in the future, and if you are doing demographic work on Asian American populations; please reach out to aac@unc.edu.