California: Indian Americans have an average annual household income of $120,000, surpassing all ethnic groups, as well as White Americans, according to a report released by the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development. But almost 7 per cent of Indian Americans live at or below the federal poverty line of $12,490 for a single person and $25, 750 for a family of four. Indian and Filipino Americans have the lowest poverty rates among all ethnic groups, and White Americans. Fifty-seven per cent of Indian Americans own their homes, while 26 per cent are renters.
But prosperity does not cut equally among all AAPI ethnicities, including other South Asian American subgroups. While the mean household income for all AAPI ethnicities is $82,000 annually, Burmese Americans earn just half of that at $42,000 per year. Burmese Americans have the highest level of poverty in the nation, surpassing Black and LatinX households, according to CAPACD - an Oakland, California-based organization that works with low-income AAPI families.
Nepalese and Bangladeshi American households have an annual income of about $46,000, while Pakistani Americans come closer to the AAPI average, with household incomes of $79,000 per year. Eighteen per cent of Bangladeshi American households fall below the federal poverty line, while 16 per cent of Pakistani Americans are low-income.
As a whole, 11 per cent of Asian American households are at or below the federal poverty level. By comparison, almost 24 per cent of Black and native American households, and 18 per cent of LatinX households are low-income. Poverty levels for White Americans is below 10 per cent; they also represent the highest percentage of homeowners - almost 80 per cent - according to the CAPACD report.
Because of modern immigration policy, immigrants are more likely to be wealthy and educated when they immigrate to the US, stated the report. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 has favored higher education or professional class skills or those who have family in the US. As of 2012, 61 per cent of Asian immigrants have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to the overall US population, in which only one-third have graduated from college or university.
Asian Americans have also gobbled up the majority of employment-based visas, which contributes to a higher earning capacity. But the authors of the report - Cy Watsky, Josh Isimatsu, Arika Harrison, and Emanuel Nieves - stated that the myth of the model minority masks the severe economic, education, and employment disparities within the AAPI community. People from Asia are clubbed into one ethnic category, which disallows an examination of diverse backgrounds, said the researchers.
“Ultimately, while the Asian American category allows for political solidarity and power for many, when we examine the economic indicators for the AAPI community, it becomes clear that the aggregated data does not come close to telling the full story of these diverse communities,” wrote the researchers. The US Census does not provide disaggregated wealth data, which is important in understanding the long-term financial security for AAPI households, stated CAPACD in a press release.
