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The United States is home to about 1.6 million Indian immigrants, making them the third-largest immigrant group in the United States after Mexican and Filipino immigrants. Between 2007 and 2008, the number of Indian immigrants surpassed the number of Chinese and Hong Kong-born immigrants for the first time since at least 1960.
Indian immigration to the United States, a fairly recent phenomenon, grew rapidly during the 1990s and 2000s. In addition, people with Indian ancestry have also immigrated to the United States from the Caribbean, East Africa, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Indian immigrants are heavily concentrated in California and New Jersey (for more information on immigrants by state, please see the ACS/Census Data). Compared to other immigrant groups, the Indian foreign born are much better educated—nearly three-quarters of Indian-born adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher. About one-quarter of Indian-born men in the labor force work in the information technology industry.
This spotlight focuses on Indian immigrants residing in the United States, examining the population’s size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics using data from the US Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2000 Decennial Census, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) for 2008 and 2009.
Size and Distribution
· There were about 1.6 million foreign born from India residing in the United States in 2008.
· Nearly half of all Indian immigrants resided in California, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
· The Indian born accounted for about one in 10 immigrants in six states.
· Between 2000 and 2008, the size of the Indian immigrant population more than doubled in 10 states.
· Over one in six Indian immigrants resided in the New York metropolitan area.
· Indian immigrants made up at least 10 percent of the immigrant population in 10 metropolitan areas.
· There were 2.3 million members of the Indian diaspora residing in the United States in 2008, including 455,000 native-born US citizens of Indian ancestry.
Demographic and Socioeconomic Overview
· Over 40 percent of the Indian foreign born arrived in the United States in 2000 or later.
· Nearly three-quarters of Indian immigrants in 2008 were adults of working age.
· Indian immigrant men outnumbered women in 2008.
· Indian immigrants were as likely as the foreign born overall to be naturalized US citizens.
· Three of every 10 Indian immigrants in 2008 were limited English proficient.
· About two-thirds of limited English proficient Indian immigrants spoke Hindi, Guajarati, or Panjabi.
· Nearly three-quarters of Indian foreign-born adults had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
· Indian immigrant men were more likely to participate in the civilian labor force than foreign-born men overall.
· Over one-quarter of employed Indian-born men worked in information technology.
· One-third of employed Indian-born women worked in management, business, and finance and in information technology.
· Indian immigrants were less likely to live in poverty than natives.
· Indian immigrants were as likely as other immigrants to own their own home.
· About one in eight Indian immigrants did not have health insurance in 2008.
· More than 550,000 children under age 18 resided in a household with an Indian immigrant parent.
Legal and Unauthorized Indian Immigrant Population
· There were over than half a million Indian-born lawful permanent residents in 2008.
· Between 2000 and 2009, more than 635,000 Indian foreign born gained lawful permanent residence in the United States.
· Three out of five Indian immigrants receiving lawful permanent residence in 2009 were admitted as family-based immigrants.
· In 2009, the Indian foreign born made up 9 percent of all foreign academic-student admissions to the United States.
· About 400 Indian immigrants were granted asylum in 2009.
· As of 2008, 220,000 Indian-born lawful permanent residents were eligible to naturalize.
· In 2009, roughly 2 percent of all unauthorized immigrants in the United States were from India.
· The number of unauthorized immigrants from India rose 64 percent between 2000 and 2009.
Size and Distribution
There were about 1.6 million foreign born from India residing in the United States in 2008.
There were 1,622,522 foreign born from India residing in the United States in 2008, accounting for 4.3 percent of the country’s 38.0 million immigrants.
Relative to other groups, the Indian-born population in the United States grew rapidly during the 1990s and 2000s, increasing by 1.2 million — or about 65,000 per year — since 1990.
Between 2007 and 2008, the Indian foreign-born population surpassed the Chinese and Hong Kong-born population to become the third largest immigrant group in the United States after immigrants from Mexico and the Philippines (see Table 1; see also the pie charts showing the top 10 countries of birth of immigrants residing in the United States over time here.).
Nearly half of all Indian immigrants resided in California, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
California had the largest number of Indian immigrants (303,497 or 18.7 percent of the Indian-born population) in 2008, followed by New Jersey (187,732, or 11.6 percent), New York (141,738, or 8.7 percent), Texas (131,729, or 8.1 percent), Illinois (129,187, or 8.0 percent), Pennsylvania (65,014, or 4.0 percent), Florida (59,169, or 3.6 percent), Georgia (54,111, or 3.3 percent), Virginia (53,674, or 3.3 percent), and Michigan (49,167, or 3.0 percent).
The Indian born accounted for about one in 10 immigrants in six states.
In 2008, the Indian born made up 10.9 percent of all immigrants in New Jersey and 10.3 percent of all immigrants in West Virginia. They were also about one in 10 immigrants in Pennsylvania (9.8 percent), Delaware (9.7 percent), New Hampshire (9.5 percent), and Ohio (9.5 percent).
Between 2000 and 2008, the size of the Indian immigrant population more than doubled in 10 states.
The Indian immigrant population more than doubled in 10 states between 2000 and 2008. These states, which generally had small Indian immigrant populations in 2000, include Montana (from 253 to 1,009), Utah (from 2,030 to 5,629), Nevada (from 2,511 to 6,750), Idaho (from 845 to 2,269), Arizona (from 9,134 to 22,731), Washington (from 14,714 to 36,435), New Hampshire (from 2,530 to 6,244), Vermont (from 585 to 1,429), Mississippi (from 2,351 to 5,010), and the District of Columbia (from 1,139 to 2,350). On balance, the data suggest a growing Indian immigrant presence in the Mountain West.
Over one in six Indian immigrants resided in the New York metropolitan area.
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA, was the metropolitan area with the largest number of Indian born (277,401, or 17.1 percent) in 2008, followed by Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI (116,395, or 7.2 percent); San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (78,001, or 4.8 percent); Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (67,340, or 4.2 percent); and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA (66,125 or 4.1 percent).
Indian immigrants made up at least 10 percent of the immigrant population in 10 metropolitan areas.
In 2008, the Indian born accounted for 14.3 percent of all immigrants in the Trenton-Ewing, NJ, metropolitan area. They also accounted for more than 10 percent of immigrants in Syracuse, NY (13.8 percent); Pittsburgh, PA (12.3 percent); Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN (11.9 percent); San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (11.8 percent); Columbus, OH (11.8 percent); Manchester-Nashua, NH (11.3 percent); Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (10.9 percent); Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY (10.7 percent); and Ann Arbor, MI (10.0 percent).
There were 2.3 million members of the Indian diaspora residing in the United States in 2008.
Of the 2.3 million members of the Indian diaspora residing in the United States in 2008, 66.4 percent were born in India, including individuals born in India to at least one parent who was a native-born US citizen. One-fifth (20.0 percent) were US citizens at birth. The remaining 13.6 percent were born elsewhere, mainly in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, the Caribbean (Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica), East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa), and the British Commonwealth (Canada, United Kingdom).
The Indian diaspora in the United States is relatively small compared to the total population of India (1.1 billion in 2008 according to the World Bank). The number of Indian immigrants in the United States (1.6 million) is roughly the same size as the population of the Indian city of Agra, and the Indian diaspora (2.3 million) is about the same size as the population of the Indian city of Jaipur.
Demographic and Socioeconomic Overview
Over 40 percent of the Indian foreign born arrived in the United States in 2000 or later.
As of 2008, 43.4 percent of the 1.6 million Indian foreign born entered the country in 2000 or later, with 29.9 percent entering between 1990 and 1999, 15.0 percent between 1980 and 1989, 9.0 percent between 1970 and 1979, and the remaining 2.7 percent prior to 1970.
Nearly three-quarters of Indian immigrants in 2008 were adults of working age.
Of the Indian immigrants residing in the United States in 2008, 6.9 percent were minors (under age 18), 73.5 percent were adults of working age (between 18 and 54), and 19.5 percent were seniors (age 55 and older).
Of the total foreign-born population in the United States in 2008, 7.4 percent were minors, 69.0 percent were of working age, and 23.6 percent were seniors.
In 2009, roughly 2 percent of all unauthorized immigrants in the United States were from India.
OIS has estimated that 200,000, or about 2 percent, of the approximately 10.8 million unauthorized migrants in January 2009 were born in India.
The number of unauthorized immigrants from India rose 64 percent between 2000 and 2009.
The estimated number of unauthorized immigrants from India has increased from about 120,000 in 2000 to about 200,000 in 2009, an increase of 64 percent.
—To be concluded in our August edition.
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