Filipinos 2nd largest Asian group in US, census shows

LOS ANGELES—Filipinos are now the second largest Asian group in the United States, according to the latest census bureau report.

The number of Americans who have identified themselves as Filipino, either alone or in combination with another race, totaled 3.4 million, the report showed.

The total number is believed to be much higher than the census count. There are an estimated one million undocumented Filipinos in the United States.

Chinese-Americans make up the largest Asian group, with more than 4 million. Those from the Indian subcontinent are the third largest, with 3.2 million. Other significantly large Asian groups include the Vietnamese, with 1.7 million; Koreans, with 1.7 million, and the Japanese, with 1.3 million.

This statistical profile was based on the 2010 census of major racial and ethnic groups in the United States.  Released on March 22, the statistical portrait of the Asian-American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations was produced for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which is celebrated annually in May.

The report also showed that Asians were the fastest growing population, increasing nearly 46 percent over the last decade. Their number increased to more than 17 million from 2000 to 2010. A close second was the Latino population, which rose by 43 percent. By comparison, the African American and white populations grew by only 15 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Census officials attributed the fast growth of the Asian population to immigration.

California, known as the gateway for Asian immigrants, had the largest population of Asian Americans, with close to 6 million, or nearly a third of the total nationwide.  It was followed by New York, with 1.6 million. Hawaii had the highest percentage of Asians, who make up 57 percent of the island state’s population.

The report showed that the Asian population grew dramatically in other states, such as Nevada, where the number rose by 116 percent, and Arizona, by 95 percent.

Among metropolitan areas, New York City had the largest Asian population, with more than 1 million, followed by Los Angeles, with 484,000, and San Jose, with 347,000.

Filipinos are the largest Asian group in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, Wyoming and South Dakota. The Chinese made up the largest Asian group in Colorado, Oregon, Utah, District of Columbia, North Dakota, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.