Asian American demographics by city

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I assume many (most?) Thai restaurants in the U.S. aren't actually owned by Thai. Not too many Thai in the U.S., and yet the restaurants are everywhere. Like sushi places, they seem to be generally immigrant owned.

A lot of the sushi places in Toronto are run by Koreans.

[Docere]

LA is #1 for Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese, Cambodians, Thais and Indonesians.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Docere

LA is #1 for Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese, Cambodians, Thais and Indonesians.

Los Angeles County is home to the largest number of Thais outside of Thailand. Source: https://www.achp.gov/preserve-americ...own-california

And presumably the best authentic Thai food anywhere in the US. None of that overly sweet pad thai crap. Bring on the fish sauce, shrimp paste, and spices!

[Docere]

It's probably more of a commercial strip than an ethnic enclave, but LA has the only Thai Town that I know of.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Docere

It's probably more of a commercial strip than an ethnic enclave, but LA has the only Thai Town that I know of.

A lot of Thais do live there, as well as being scattered around LA County. Songkran Festival is huge every May.

Wat Thai Buddhist temple in North Hollywood is pretty big, and pre-pandemic was a much touted place to get Thai food.

[eschaton]

My understanding is historically speaking the Thai government directly promoted the opening of Thai restaurants in the U.S. as a form of "soft power." Hence the overall percentage of Thai people involved in the restaurant industry is rather high.

[proghousehead]

Originally Posted by Docere

More South Asians in Chicago, DFW and Washington than LA (even including the Inland Empire).

There are more South Asians in NYC proper (382,692) than any other MSA other than SF/SJ (which is a CSA).

[Docere]

I'm not a fan of using CSAs. However my practice is to combine San Francisco and San Jose MSAs, and LA and Riverside.

[Docere]

In NY, LA or Bay Area

Chinese 52.3%
Korean 42.1%
Filipino 36.2%
Japanese 33.1%
Vietnamese 30.7%
Indian 29.4%

[Docere]

Well this is annoying. There's data for the Asian subgroups alone at the MSA level, but not in combination on the Census Bureau website. It is available at state level though.

The difference is highest among Japanese Americans. There are about twice as many Japanese Americans in combination compared to Japanese alone. Not surprising as they have the most generational depth and are majority native-born, and there isn't Japanese mass immigration.

[Docere]

For the "big six" in California.

Asian subgroups alone

Chinese 1,497,719
Filipino 1,277,122
Indian 886,731
Vietnamese 675,235
Korean 463,808
Japanese 255,499

Alone or in combination

Chinese 1,833,917
Filipino 1,695,750
Indian 952,889
Vietnamese 802,878
Korean 552,338
Japanese 486,055

[RST500]

"Growth in the speakers of these South Asian languages in the US, 2000-2021:

Hindi: 317K → 875K

Urdu: 285K → 500K

Telugu: 93K → 433K

Gujarati: 217K → 439K

Bengali: 128K → 373K

Tamil: 70K →311K

Punjabi: 110K → 309K"


@SidKhurana3607

[RST500]

map of the most common South Asian language by province/state in the US and Canada




@SidKhurana3607

[Docere]

A plurality of South Asians in Canada are Sikh.

[rpvan]

Originally Posted by Docere

A plurality of South Asians in Canada are Sikh.

Religious affiliations of South Asian Canadians (2021 census)

Hinduism: 29.9%
Sikhism: 29.6%
Islam: 23.1%
Christianity: 9.5%
Irreligion: 6.1%
Buddhism: 1.1%
Jainism: 0.3%
Zoroastrianism: 0.1%
Judaism: 0.05%
Baháʼí: 0.02%
Indigenous Spirituality: 0.004%
Other: 0.1%


Source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...pid=9810034201

[JHikka]

What's going on with the Nepalis in VT/NH?

[Docere]

Originally Posted by rpvan

Religious affiliations of South Asian Canadians (2021 census)

Hinduism: 29.9%
Sikhism: 29.6%
Islam: 23.1%
Christianity: 9.5%
Irreligion: 6.1%
Buddhism: 1.1%
Jainism: 0.3%
Zoroastrianism: 0.1%
Judaism: 0.05%
Baháʼí: 0.02%
Indigenous Spirituality: 0.004%
Other: 0.1%


Source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...pid=9810034201

Well there you go. The Canadian South Asian population has become more diverse.

[rpvan]

Originally Posted by Docere

Well there you go. The Canadian South Asian population has become more diverse.

Seems as though the furthest back you can go for data like this is 1981.


Religious affiliations of South Asian Canadians (1981 census)
Sikhism: 31.5%
Hinduism: 27.2%
Islam: 21%
Christianity: 15.2%
Irreligion: 3.1%
Buddhism: 0.5%
Judaism: 0.05%
Baháʼí: 0.01%
Other: 0.1%


Source: https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/...blication.html (Page 40)

[Docere]

Quite the different between Ontario and BC as well.

Ontario South Asians are 35% Hindu, 25% Muslim, 20% Sikh. Sikhs dominate in BC (61% of the South Asian population).

[rpvan]

Originally Posted by Docere

Quite the different between Ontario and BC as well.

Ontario South Asians are 35% Hindu, 25% Muslim, 20% Sikh. Sikhs dominate in BC (61% of the South Asian population).

Makes sense given most of the early SA migrants to Canada were Sikh and settled in BC. Chain migration continues into present.