More information Year, Pop. ...

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1910	2,545	—
1920	2,507	−1.5%
1930	3,130	+24.9%
1940	2,405	−23.2%
1980	387,223	+16000.7%
1990	815,447	+110.6%
2000	1,645,510	+101.8%
2010	2,843,391	+72.8%
2020	4,397,737	+54.7%

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According to the 2010 United States census,^[59] the Asian Indian population in the United States increased from almost 1,678,765 in 2000 (0.6% of U.S. population) to 2,843,391 in 2010 (0.9% of U.S. population), a growth rate of 69.37%, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.^[60]

The New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area, consisting of New York City, Long Island, and adjacent areas within New York, as well as nearby areas within the states of New Jersey (extending to Trenton), Connecticut (extending to Bridgeport), and including Pike County, Pennsylvania, was home to an estimated 711,174 uniracial Indian Americans as of the 2017 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, comprising by far the largest Indian American population of any metropolitan area in the U.S.^[61]

Thumb — Aerial view of the numerous greenbelts of exurban Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey housing tracts in 2010. Since then, significant new housing construction is rendering an increasingly affluent and suburban environment to Monroe Township, while maintaining the proximity to both New York City and top-ranked Princeton University sought by Indians in this township with the fastest-growing Indian population in the Western Hemisphere.

New York City itself also contains by far the largest Indian American population of any individual city in North America, estimated at 246,454 as of 2017.^[62] Monroe Township, Middlesex County, in central New Jersey, ranked the safest small city in the United States,^[63] has displayed one of the fastest growth rates of its Indian population in the Western Hemisphere, increasing from 256 (0.9%) as of the 2000 Census^[64] to an estimated 5,943 (13.6%) as of 2017,^[65] representing a 2,221.5% increase over that period. Affluent professionals and senior citizens, a temperate climate with numerous greenbelts, charitable benefactors to COVID relief efforts in India in official coordination with Monroe Township, Hindu mandirs, Indian food trucks, and Bollywood actors with second homes all play into the growth of the Indian population in the township, as well as its relative proximity to top-ranked Princeton University. By 2022, the Indian population surpassed one-third of Monroe Township's population, and the nickname Edison-South had developed, in reference to the Little India stature of both Middlesex County, New Jersey townships.^[66] In 2014, 12,350 Indians legally immigrated to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA core based statistical area;^[67] As of February 2022, Indian airline carrier Air India as well as United States airline carrier United Airlines were offering direct flights from the New York City Metropolitan Area to and from Delhi and Mumbai. In May 2019, Delta Air Lines announced non-stop flight service between New York JFK and Mumbai, to begin December 22, 2019.^[68] And in November 2021, American Airlines began non-stop flight service between New York JFK and Delhi with IndiGo Air codesharing on this flight. At least 24 Indian American enclaves characterized as a Little India have emerged in the New York City Metropolitan Area.

Other metropolitan areas with large Indian American populations include Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore–Washington, Boston, Chicago, Dallas–Ft. Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Francisco–San Jose–Oakland, and Seattle.

The three oldest Indian American communities going back to around 1910 are in lesser populated agricultural areas in California including Stockton and Yuba City in the Central Valley, as well as in the Imperial Valley. These were all primarily Sikh settlements.

U.S. metropolitan areas with significant Asian Indian populations

Asian Indian population in Combined Statistical Areas of the United States of America as per Census 2020^[69]

More information Metropolitan Area, Asian Indian Population ...

Metropolitan Area	Asian Indian Population	Total Population	Percentage
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA	792,367	22,431,833	3.53%
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA	513,349	9,225,160	5.56%
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA	253,509	9,986,960	2.54%
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-VA-MD-WV-PA CSA	253,146	10,028,331	2.52%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA	239,291	8,157,895	2.93%
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA	231,515	18,644,680	1.24%
Houston-Pasadena, TX CSA	162,343	7,339,672	2.21%
Philadelphia–Reading–Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA	158,773	7,379,700	2.15%
Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs, GA-AL CSA	158,408	6,976,171	2.27%
Boston–Worcester–Providence, MA-RI-NH CSA	152,700	8,349,768	1.83%
Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA	144,290	4,102,400	2.79%
Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor, MI CSA	108,440	5,424,742	2.00%
Sacramento–Roseville, CA CSA	76,403	2,680,831	2.85%
Miami–Port St. Lucie–Fort Lauderdale, FL CSA	63,824	6,908,296	0.92%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX CSA	63,524	2,352,426	2.70%
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ CSA	61,580	4,899,104	1.26%
Raleigh–Durham–Cary, NC CSA	59,567	2,242,324	2.66%
Orlando–Lakeland–Deltona, FL CSA	54,187	4,197,095	1.29%
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA CSA	50,673	3,276,208	1.55%
Charlotte–Concord, NC-SC CSA	50,115	3,232,206	1.55%
Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN-WI CSA	48,671	4,078,788	1.19%
New Haven–Hartford–Waterbury, CT CSA	45,600	2,659,617	1.71%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA	43,690	3,175,275	1.38%
Columbus–Marion–Zanesville, OH CSA	43,461	2,606,479	1.67%
Portland–Vancouver–Salem, OR-WA CSA	35,714	3,280,736	1.09%
Indianapolis–Carmel–Muncie, IN CSA	33,489	2,599,860	1.29%
Denver–Aurora–Greeley, CO CSA	31,452	3,623,560	0.87%
St. Louis–St. Charles–Farmington, MO-IL CSA	28,874	2,924,904	0.99%
Cleveland–Akron–Canton, OH CSA	28,467	3,769,834	0.76%
Fresno–Hanford–Corcoran, CA CSA	25,055	1,317,395	1.90%
Cincinnati–Wilmington, OH-KY-IN CSA	24,434	2,291,815	1.07%
Pittsburgh–Weirton–Steubenville, PA-OH-WV CSA	24,414	2,767,801	0.88%
Kansas City–Overland Park–Kansas City, MO-KS CSA	22,308	2,528,644	0.88%
Richmond, VA MSA	21,077	1,314,434	1.60%
San Antonio–New Braunfels–Kerrville, TX CSA	19,611	2,637,466	0.74%
Milwaukee–Racine–Waukesha, WI CSA	18,779	2,053,232	0.91%
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro, TN CSA	18,296	2,250,282	0.84%
Jacksonville–Kingsland–Palatka, FL-GA CSA	16,853	1,733,937	0.97%
Albany–Schenectady, NY CSA	16,476	1,190,727	1.38%
Las Vegas–Henderson, NV CSA	14,913	2,317,052	0.64%
Buffalo–Cheektowaga–Olean, NY CSA	14,021	1,243,944	1.13%
Salt Lake City–Provo–Orem, UT-ID CSA	13,520	2,705,693	0.50%
Bakersfield, CA MSA	12,771	909,235	1.40%
Harrisburg–York–Lebanon, PA CSA	12,497	1,295,259	0.96%
Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC CSA	11,660	1,695,306	0.69%
Allentown–Bethlehem–East Stroudsburg, PA-NJ CSA	11,188	1,030,216	1.09%
Memphis–Clarksdale–Forrest City, TN-MS-AR CSA	10,502	1,389,905	0.76%
Madison–Janesville–Beloit, WI CSA	10,361	910,246	1.14%
Louisville/Jefferson County–Elizabethtown, KY-IN CSA	10,259	1,487,749	0.69%
Oklahoma City–Shawnee, OK CSA	10,237	1,498,149	0.68%
Virginia Beach–Chesapeake, VA-NC CSA	9,985	1,857,542	0.54%
Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson, SC CSA	9,809	1,511,905	0.65%
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR MSA	9,028	546,725	1.65%
Des Moines–West Des Moines–Ames, IA CSA	8,081	890,322	0.91%
Columbia–Sumter–Orangeburg, SC CSA	7,586	1,056,968	0.72%
Rochester–Batavia–Seneca Falls, NY CSA	7,564	1,157,563	0.65%
Dayton–Springfield–Kettering, OH CSA	6,281	1,088,875	0.58%
Omaha–Fremont, NE-IA CSA	6,241	1,004,771	0.62%
Gainesville–Lake City, FL CSA	6,207	408,945	1.52%
Grand Rapids–Wyoming, MI CSA	5,995	1,486,055	0.40%
Tucson–Nogales, AZ CSA	5,977	1,091,102	0.55%
Lansing–East Lansing–Owosso, MI CSA	5,860	541,297	1.08%
Birmingham–Cullman–Talladega, AL CSA	5,714	1,361,033	0.42%
Champaign–Urbana–Danville, IL CSA	5,299	310,260	1.71%
Bloomington–Pontiac, IL CSA	5,225	206,769	2.53%
Lafayette–West Lafayette–Frankfort, IN CSA	5,111	281,594	1.82%
Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples CSA	5,042	1,188,319	0.42%
Tulsa–Bartlesville–Muskogee, OK CSA	5,032	1,134,125	0.44%
Knoxville–Morristown–Sevierville, TN CSA	4,793	1,156,861	0.41%
Reno–Carson City–Gardnerville Ranchos, NV-CA CSA	4,761	684,678	0.70%
Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Los Alamos, NM CSA	4,555	1,162,523	0.39%
Springfield–Amherst Town–Northampton, MA CSA	4,398	699,162	0.63%
Scranton—Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA	4,367	567,559	0.77%
Peoria–Canton, IL CSA	4,151	402,391	1.03%
College Station-Bryan, TX MSA	4,149	268,248	1.55%
Urban Honolulu, HI MSA	4,122	1,016,508	0.41%
North Port-Bradenton, FL CSA	4,090	1,054,539	0.39%
New Orleans–Metairie–Slidell, LA-MS CSA	4,048	1,373,453	0.29%
Syracuse–Auburn, NY CSA	4,023	738,305	0.54%
Lexington-Fayette–Richmond–Frankfort, KY CSA	3,758	762,082	0.49%
Tallahassee–Bainbridge, FL-GA CSA	3,705	413,665	0.90%

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States/territories

The following table shows the number of people in each state who identified as "Hindu" in the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses, as well as the number of people identifying as "Asian Indian" in each state from the 1980 census onwards.^[70] Between the 1910 and 1940 censuses, "Hindu" was a census category for race,^[70] a term which is now associated with religion but then referred to South Asians in general.^[71] At the time, the South Asian American population was 85% Sikh, 12% Muslim, and 3% Hindu,^[72]^[73] but all were nevertheless referred to as Hindus.^[72]^[74] Midcentury liberalization of immigration law has led to more diverse migration from India, and the proportion of Sikhs amongst Indian Americans has fallen to 8%.^[9]

More information State or territory, Pop. ...

Indian Americans by state or territory
State or territory	1910^[75]		1920^[75]		1930^[75]		1940^[76]^[77]		1980^[78]		1990^[79]		2000^[80]		2010^[81]		2020^[82]
State or territory	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Alabama	0	0%	4	0%	3	0%	5	0%	2,374	0.06%	4,348	0.11%	6,686	0.15%	13,036	0.27%	17,174	0.34%
Alaska									230	0.06%	472	0.09%	546	0.09%	1,218	0.17%	857	0.12%
Arizona	0	0%	10	0%	50	0.01%	65	0.01%	2,078	0.08%	5,663	0.15%	14,510	0.28%	36,047	0.56%	64,822	0.91%
Arkansas	0	0%	1	0%	2	0%	2	0%	1,194	0.05%	1,329	0.06%	2,694	0.1%	7,973	0.27%	14,443	0.48%
California	1,948	0.08%	1,723	0.05%	1,873	0.03%	1,476	0.02%	59,774	0.25%	159,973	0.54%	307,105	0.91%	528,176	1.42%	830,259	2.1%
Colorado	1	0%	7	0%	28	0%	8	0%	2,565	0.09%	3,836	0.12%	11,826	0.27%	20,369	0.41%	34,400	0.6%
Connecticut	0	0%	7	0%	3	0%	7	0%	5,426	0.17%	11,755	0.36%	23,905	0.7%	46,415	1.3%	60,634	1.68%
Delaware	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	1,227	0.21%	2,183	0.33%	5,231	0.67%	11,424	1.27%	17,722	1.79%
District of Columbia	0	0%	6	0%	7	0%	4	0%	873	0.14%	1,601	0.26%	2,415	0.42%	5,214	0.87%	9,149	1.33%
Florida	0	0%	13	0%	4	0%	6	0%	11,039	0.11%	31,457	0.24%	67,790	0.42%	128,735	0.68%	187,236	0.87%
Georgia	0	0%	5	0%	2	0%	2	0%	4,725	0.09%	13,926	0.21%	44,732	0.55%	96,116	0.99%	165,895	1.55%
Hawaii									708	0.07%	1,015	0.09%	1,244	0.1%	2,201	0.16%	2,362	0.16%
Idaho	0	0%	7	0%	7	0%	4	0%	247	0.03%	473	0.05%	1,142	0.09%	2,152	0.14%	3,398	0.18%
Illinois	1	0%	33	0%	87	0%	41	0%	37,438	0.33%	64,200	0.56%	123,275	0.99%	188,328	1.47%	260,055	2.03%
Indiana	2	0%	1	0%	14	0%	5	0%	4,746	0.09%	7,095	0.13%	14,159	0.23%	27,598	0.43%	47,902	0.71%
Iowa	3	0%	3	0%	6	0%	0	0%	2,424	0.08%	3,021	0.11%	5,407	0.18%	11,081	0.36%	14,748	0.46%
Kansas	0	0%	2	0%	9	0%	7	0%	2,588	0.11%	3,956	0.16%	7,681	0.29%	13,848	0.49%	19,832	0.68%
Kentucky	0	0%	1	0%	1	0%	3	0%	2,669	0.07%	2,922	0.08%	6,734	0.17%	12,501	0.29%	18,154	0.4%
Louisiana	26	0%	27	0%	28	0%	15	0%	3,036	0.07%	5,083	0.12%	8,641	0.19%	11,174	0.25%	12,964	0.28%
Maine	0	0%	2	0%	0	0%	1	0%	475	0.04%	607	0.05%	978	0.08%	1,959	0.15%	2,276	0.17%
Maryland	0	0%	6	0%	6	0%	10	0%	13,788	0.33%	28,330	0.59%	49,766	0.94%	79,051	1.37%	104,617	1.69%
Massachusetts	14	0%	8	0%	42	0%	20	0%	8,943	0.16%	19,719	0.33%	41,935	0.66%	77,177	1.18%	125,534	1.79%
Michigan	0	0%	38	0%	181	0%	113	0%	15,363	0.17%	23,845	0.26%	54,464	0.55%	77,132	0.78%	122,245	1.21%
Minnesota	0	0%	4	0%	3	0%	3	0%	3,734	0.09%	8,234	0%	16,278	0.33%	33,031	0.62%	47,173	0.83%
Mississippi	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	1	0%	1,313	0.05%	1,872	0.07%	3,325	0.12%	5,494	0.19%	6,807	0.23%
Missouri	2	0%	15	0%	9	0%	6	0%	4,276	0.09%	6,111	0.12%	11,845	0.21%	23,223	0.39%	34,748	0.56%
Montana	0	0%	1	0%	4	0%	7	0%	154	0.02%	248	0.03%	450	0.05%	618	0.06%	726	0.07%
Nebraska	0	0%	1	0%	1	0%	2	0%	1,106	0.07%	1,218	0.08%	3,199	0.19%	5,903	0.32%	9,107	0.46%
Nevada	52	0.06%	3	0%	12	0.01%	3	0%	527	0.07%	1,825	0.15%	4,860	0.24%	11,671	0.43%	14,005	0.45%
New Hampshire	0	0%	0	0%	1	0%	0	0%	742	0.08%	1,697	0.15%	3,579	0.29%	8,268	0.63%	10,659	0.77%
New Jersey	0	0%	34	0%	110	0%	47	0%	30,684	0.42%	79,440	1.03%	169,209	2.01%	292,256	3.32%	415,342	4.47%
New Mexico	0	0%	0	0%	20	0%	19	0%	622	0.05%	1,593	0.11%	2,424	0.13%	4,550	0.22%	5,807	0.27%
New York	14	0%	204	0%	320	0%	243	0%	67,636	0.39%	140,985	0.78%	250,027	1.32%	313,620	1.62%	387,376	1.92%
North Carolina	0	0%	1	0%	0	0%	7	0%	4,855	0.08%	9,847	0.15%	25,350	0.31%	57,400	0.6%	121,974	1.17%
North Dakota	0	0%	1	0%	0	0%	0	0%	252	0.04%	482	0.08%	1,042	0.16%	1,543	0.23%	1,732	0.22%
Ohio	0	0%	35	0%	55	0%	40	0%	13,602	0.13%	20,848	0.19%	37,624	0.33%	64,187	0.56%	99,105	0.84%
Oklahoma	0	0%	1	0%	4	0%	17	0%	3,168	0.1%	4,546	0.14%	8,302	0.24%	11,906	0.32%	14,631	0.37%
Oregon	305	0.05%	90	0.01%	35	0%	21	0%	2,265	0.09%	3,508	0.12%	10,188	0.3%	16,740	0.44%	29,028	0.69%
Pennsylvania	2	0%	47	0%	63	0%	52	0%	17,230	0.15%	28,396	0.24%	56,233	0.46%	103,026	0.81%	157,626	1.21%
Puerto Rico										0%		0%	5,564	0.15%	3,523	0.09%	947	0.03%
Rhode Island	0	0%	6	0%	1	0%	4	0%	904	0.1%	1,975	0.2%	2,548	0.24%	4,653	0.44%	7,334	0.67%
South Carolina	0	0%	11	0%	2	0%	2	0%	2,572	0.08%	3,900	0.11%	8,215	0.2%	15,941	0.34%	26,875	0.53%
South Dakota	0	0%	2	0%	1	0%	1	0%	157	0.02%	287	0.04%	581	0.08%	1,152	0.14%	1,523	0.17%
Tennessee	1	0%	13	0%	4	0%	2	0%	3,392	0.07%	5,911	0.12%	11,956	0.21%	23,900	0.38%	40,151	0.58%
Texas	2	0%	4	0%	49	0%	73	0%	23,395	0.16%	55,795	0.33%	127,256	0.61%	245,981	0.98%	480,566	1.65%
Utah	0	0%	28	0.01%	25	0%	13	0%	932	0.06%	1,557	0.09%	3,157	0.14%	6,212	0.22%	11,908	0.36%
Vermont	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	520	0.1%	529	0.09%	697	0.11%	1,359	0.22%	1,794	0.28%
Virginia	0	0%	6	0%	0	0%	8	0%	9,046	0.17%	20,494	0.33%	47,578	0.67%	103,916	1.3%	157,635	1.83%
Washington	161	0.01%	85	0.01%	53	0%	23	0%	4,267	0.1%	8,205	0.17%	22,489	0.38%	61,124	0.91%	140,817	1.83%
West Virginia	0	0%	0	0%	1	0%	11	0%	1,936	0.1%	1,981	0.11%	2,529	0.14%	3,304	0.18%	3,289	0.18%
Wisconsin	0	0%	2	0%	2	0%	5	0%	3,902	0.08%	6,914	0.14%	11,280	0.21%	22,899	0.4%	32,831	0.56%
Wyoming	11	0.01%	7	0%	2	0%	0	0%	104	0.02%	240	0.05%	423	0.09%	589	0.1%	522	0.09%
United States	2,545	0%	2,507	0%	3,130	0%	2,405	0%	387,223	0.17%	815,447	0.33%	1,645,510	0.58%	2,843,391	0.92%	4,397,737	1.33%

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List of communities by number of Asian Indians (as of the 2010 census)

New York City: 211,818
- Queens: 138,795
- Brooklyn: 25,270
- Manhattan: 24,359
- Bronx: 16,748
- Staten Island: 6,646
San Jose, CA: 43,827
Fremont, CA: 38,711
Los Angeles, CA: 32,966
Chicago, IL: 29,948
Edison, NJ: 28,286
Jersey City, NJ: 27,111
Houston, TX: 26,289
Sunnyvale, CA: 21,737
Philadelphia, PA: 18,520
Irving, TX: 17,403

Languages

In recent years, especially following the 1990 inception of the H-1B visa program and the dot-com boom, there has been a shift in the Indian American population from being dominated by immigrants from Gujarat and Punjab to being increasingly represented more broadly, including by immigrants from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Tamil Nadu, as well as immigrants from Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.^[83]^[84] Between 2010 and 2021, Telugu rose from being the sixth most spoken South Asian language to being the third most spoken, while Punjabi fell from being the fourth most spoken South Asian language in the United States to become the seventh most spoken. There are significant differences between these groups in terms of socioeconomic factors like education, geographic location, and income; in 2021, 81% of Americans speaking Telugu at home spoke English very well while only 59% of Americans speaking Punjabi at home did the same.^[85]^[86]

More information South Asian language, Change ...

Number of Americans speaking South Asian languages at home (2010–2021)^[86]^[87]
South Asian language	2010	2021	Change	% Change
South Asian language	2010	2021	Change	% Change	Gujarati	356,394	436,909	80,515	22.59%
Hindi	609,395	864,830	255,435	41.92%
Urdu	388,909	507,972	119,063	30.61%
Punjabi	243,773	318,588	74,815	30.69%
Bengali	221,872	403,024	181,152	81.65%
Telugu	217,641	459,836	242,195	111.28%
Tamil	181,698	341,396	159,698	87.89%
Nepali, Marathi, and other Indo-Aryan languages	275,694	447,811	172,117	62.43%
Malayalam, Kannada, and other Dravidian languages	197,550	280,188	82,638	41.83%

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Socioeconomic status

Thumb — The United States is host to the second largest Indian diaspora on the planet

From the 1990 census to the 2000 census, the Asian Indian population increased by 105.87%. Meanwhile, the U.S. population increased by only 7.6%. In 2000, the Indian-born population in the U.S. was 1.007 million. In 2006, of the 1,266,264 legal immigrants to the United States, 58,072 were from India. Between 2000 and 2006, 421,006 Indian immigrants were admitted to the U.S., up from 352,278 during the 1990–1999 period.^[88] At 16.4% of the Asian population, Indian Americans make up the third largest Asian-American ethnic group, following Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans.^[89]^[90]^[91]

A joint Duke University-UC Berkeley study revealed that Indian immigrants have founded more engineering and technology companies from 1995 to 2005 than immigrants from the United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, and Japan combined.^[92] The percentage of Silicon Valley startups founded by Indian immigrants has increased from 7% in 1999 to 15.5% in 2006, as reported in the 1999 study by AnnaLee Saxenian^[93] and her updated work in 2006 in collaboration with Vivek Wadhwa.^[94] Indian Americans have risen to top positions at many major companies (e.g., IBM, PepsiCo, MasterCard, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Adobe, Softbank, Cognizant, Sun Microsystems.) A 2014 study indicates that 23% of Indian business school graduates take a job in the United States.^[95]

More information Year, Asian Indians (per ACS) ...

Year	Asian Indians (per ACS)
2005	2,319,222
2006	2,482,141
2007	2,570,166
2008	2,495,998
2009	2,602,676
2010	2,765,155
2011	2,908,204
2012	3,049,201
2013	3,189,485
2014	3,491,052
2015	3,510,000
2016	3,613,407
2017	3,794,539
2018	3,882,526
2019	4,002,151
2020	4,021,134

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Indian Americans continually outpace every other ethnic group socioeconomically per U.S. census statistics.^[96] Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, in his 2005 book The World Is Flat, explains this trend in terms of brain drain, whereby a sample of the best and brightest people in India emigrate to the United States in order to seek better financial opportunities.^[97] Indians form the second largest group of physicians after non-Hispanic Caucasian Americans (3.9%) as of the 1990 survey, and the share of Indian physicians rose to approximately 6% in 2005.^[98]

Education

Thumb — Indra Nooyi's career exemplifies the high level of educational attainment and professional success.

According to Pew Research in 2015, of Indian Americans aged 25 and older, 72% had obtained a bachelor's degree and 40% had obtained a postgraduate degree, whereas of all Americans, 19% had obtained a bachelor's degree and 11% had obtained a postgraduate degree.^[99]

Household income

The median household income for Indian immigrants in 2019 was much higher than that of the overall foreign- and native-born populations. Indians overall have much higher incomes than the total foreign and native-born populations.

In a 2019 survey, it was found that households headed by an Indian immigrant had a median income of $132,000, compared to $64,000 and $66,000 for all immigrant and U.S.-born households, respectively. Indian immigrants were also much less likely to be in poverty (5%) than immigrants overall (14%) or the U.S. born (12%).^[100]

According to 2022 US Census data, the median Indian American household income is now $151,485.

Religion

Religious Makeup of Indian Americans (2018)^[9]

Hindu (48%)

Christian (15%)

Muslim (8%)

Sikh (8%)

Other religion (3%)

No religion (18%)

Indian religions in US

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Akshardham, New Jersey, one of the world's largest Hindu temples.^[101]

Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose, the largest Gurudwara in North America.

Jain Center of Greater Phoenix (JCGP)

Communities of Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, irreligious people, and smaller numbers of Jains, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and Indian Jews, have established their religious (or irreligious) beliefs in the United States. According to 2023 Pew Research Center research, 48% consider themselves Hindu, 15% as Christian (7% Catholic, 4% Evangelical Protestant, 4% Nonevangelical Protestant), 18% as unaffiliated, 8% as Muslims, 8% as Sikh, and 3% as a member of another religion.^[9] The first religious center of an Indian religion to be established in the U.S. was a Sikh Gurudwara in Stockton, California in 1912. Today there are many Sikh Gurudwaras, Hindu temples, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, and Buddhist and Jain temples in all 50 states.

Hindus

As of 2008, the American Hindu population was around 2.2 million.^[102] Hindus form the plurality religious group among the Indian American community.^[103]^[104] Many organizations such as ISKCON, Swaminarayan Sampradaya, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Chinmaya Mission, and Swadhyay Pariwar are well-established in the U.S. and Hindu Americans have formed the Hindu American Foundation which represents American Hindus and aim to educate people about Hinduism. Swami Vivekananda brought Hinduism to the West at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions.^[105] The Vedanta Society has been important in subsequent Parliaments. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. Today, many Hindu temples, most of them built by Indian Americans, have emerged in different cities and towns in the United States.^[106]^[107] More than 18 million Americans are now practicing some form of Yoga.^{[citation needed]} Kriya Yoga was introduced to America by Paramahansa Yogananda. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada initiated the popular ISKCON, also known as the Hare Krishna movement, while preaching Bhakti yoga. The Sai Baba mandir with the tallest indoor statue in the Western Hemisphere opened in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey as the Om Sri Sai Balaji Temple in 2024.^[108]

Sikhs

This section does not cite any sources. (July 2020)

From the time of their arrival to the U.S. in the late 1800s, Sikh women and men have been making notable contributions to American society. In 2007, there were estimated to be between 250,000 and 500,000 Sikhs living in the United States, with largest populations living on the East and West Coasts, together with smaller additional populations in Detroit, Chicago, and Austin. The United States also has a number of non-Punjabi converts to Sikhism. Sikh men are typically identifiable by their unshorn beards and turbans (head coverings), articles of their faith. Many organisations like World Sikh Organisation (WSO), Sikh Riders of America, SikhNet, Sikh Coalition, SALDEF, United Sikhs, National Sikh Campaign continue to educate people about Sikhism. There are many "Gurudwaras" Sikh temples present in all states of USA.

Jains

Adherents of Jainism first arrived in the United States in the 20th century. Jain immigration became more significant in the second half of the 20th century. The U.S. has since become the epicenter of the Jain diaspora. Jains in America are also one of the highest-earning socio-economic adherents of any religion in the United States. The Federation of Jain Associations in North America is an umbrella organization of local American and Canadian Jain congregations.^[110] Unlike India and United Kingdom, the Jain community in United States does not find sectarian differences—both Digambara and Śvētāmbara share a common roof.^{[citation needed]}

Muslims

Hasan Minhaj, Fareed Zakaria, Aziz Ansari,^[111] and Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan^[112] are few well-known Indian American Muslims. Indian Muslim Americans also congregate with other American Muslims, including those from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Myanmar when there are events particularly related to their faith and religious believes as the same can be applied for any other religious community, but there are prominent organizations such as the Indian Muslim Council – USA.^[113] New Jersey and New York contain notable numbers of mosques utilized by Muslims of Indian origin.

Christians

There are many Indian Christian churches across the US, including India Pentecostal Church of God, Assemblies of God in India, Church of God (Full Gospel) in India, Church of South India, Church of North India, Christhava Tamil Koil, The Pentecostal Mission, Sharon Pentecostal Church, Independent Non Denominational Churches like Heavenly Feast, Plymouth Brethren. Saint Thomas Christians (Syro-Malabar Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Chaldean Syrian Church, Kanna Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, CSI Syrian Christians, Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Pentecostal Syrian Christians^[114] and St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India^[115]) from Kerala have established their own places of worship across the United States.^[116] The website USIndian.org has collected a comprehensive list of all the traditional St. Thomas Christian Churches in the U.S.^[117] There are also Catholic Indians hailing originally from Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, who attend the same services as other American Catholics, but may celebrate the feast of Saint Francis Xavier as a special event of their identity.^[118]^[119]^[120] The Indian Christian Americans have formed the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) to represent a network of Indian Christian organizations in the U.S. FIACONA estimates the Indian American Christian population to be 1,050,000.^[121] The Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic Church, native to India since the 1st century,^[122] established St. Thomas Syro-Malabar diocese of Chicago was established in the year 2001.^[123] St. Thomas day is celebrated in this church on July 3 every year.^[124]

Others

The large Parsi and Irani community is represented by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America.^[125] Indian Jews are perhaps the smallest organized religious group among Indian Americans, consisting of approximately 350 members in the U.S. They form the Indian Jewish Congregation of USA, with their headquarters in New York City.^[126]

Deepavali/Diwali, Eid/Ramadan as school holidays

Momentum has been growing to recognize the Dharmic holy day Deepavali (Diwali) as a holiday on school district calendars in the New York City metropolitan area.^[127]^[128] New York City announced in October 2022 that Diwali would be an official school holiday commencing in 2023.^[129]

Passaic, New Jersey established Diwali as a school holiday in 2005.^[127]^[128] South Brunswick, New Jersey in 2010 became the first of the many school districts with large Indian student populations in Middlesex County in New Jersey to add Diwali to the school calendar.^[128] Glen Rock, New Jersey in February 2015 became the first municipality in Bergen County, with its own burgeoning Indian population post-2010,^[130]^[131] to recognize Diwali as an annual school holiday,^[132]^[133] while thousands in Bergen County celebrated the first U.S. county-wide Diwali Mela festival under a unified sponsorship banner in 2016,^[134] while Fair Lawn in Bergen County has celebrated an internationally prominent annual Holi celebration since 2022.^[135]^[136]^[137] Diwali/Deepavali is also recognized by Monroe Township, New Jersey.

Efforts have been undertaken in Millburn,^[127] Monroe Township, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Bernards Township, and North Brunswick, New Jersey,^[128] Long Island, as well as in New York City (ultimately successfully),^[138]^[139] among other school districts in the metropolitan region, to make Diwali a holiday on the school calendar. According to the Star-Ledger, Edison, New Jersey councilman Sudhanshu Prasad has noted parents' engagement in making Deepavali a holiday there; while in Jersey City, the four schools with major Asian Indian populations mark the holiday by inviting parents to the school buildings for festivities.^[128] Mahatma Gandhi Elementary School is located in Passaic, New Jersey.^[140] Efforts are also progressing toward making Diwali and Eid official holidays at all 24 school districts in Middlesex County.^[141] At least 12 school districts on Long Island closed for Diwali in 2022,^[142] and over 20 in New Jersey.^[143]

In March 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially declared the Muslim holy days Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha holidays on the school calendar.^[138] School districts in Paterson and South Brunswick, New Jersey observe Ramadan.^[128]

Ethnicity

Like the terms "Asian American" or "South Asian American", the term "Indian American" is also an umbrella label applying to a variety of views, values, lifestyles, and appearances. Although Asian Indian Americans retain a high ethnic identity, they are known to assimilate into American culture while at the same time keeping the culture of their ancestors.^[144]