Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.

Yesterday, the Census Bureau held "Profile America Forum on the Asian Population," a presentation on the release of a 2010 Census brief on the Asian population in the United States. According to the 2010 Census, the Asian population grew faster than any other race group in the United States between 2000 and 2010. This was observed for the population who reported Asian alone (increased 43 percent), as well as for the population who reported Asian alone or in combination with another race (increased 46 percent). The Asian alone-or-in-combination population grew by at least 30 percent in all states except for Hawaii, which had an 11 percent increase. The top five states that experienced the fastest growth were Nevada with 116 percent, Arizona with 95 percent, North Carolina with 85 percent, North Dakota with 85 percent, and Georgia with 83 percent. These same five states also experienced the most rapid growth in the Asian alone population.

The Asian Indian population was the largest detailed Asian group in nearly half of all states.

Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese each had populations of 1 million or more, and the Chinese population was the largest detailed Asian group.  However, there is not one particular detailed Asian group that is the largest across the entire country. Instead, we see the Asian population is diverse, with different detailed Asian groups being predominant in different states. In his presentation, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves remarked, "The Asian American community is very, very heterogeneous.  Thinking of this as one group—you do at your own peril. Because you end up making mistakes of judgment and I think these data show that very, very, clearly. And, the more we tell that message of heterogeneity the better off we are and the better off the country will be.”  |  Full April release

For more information on the Asian population, see the 2010 Census Brief, The Asian Population: 2010 (PDF).