U.S. Asians Earning Less Than Whites
The United States’ growing Asian and Pacific Islander population tends to be better educated but earns less than white Americans, a Census Bureau study released Friday shows.
The group grew to an estimated 8.8 million in 1994, up from 7.3 million in 1990. People who trace their roots to Asia and the Pacific Islands compose 3% of all Americans and 8% of the population in the Western U.S., where six in 10 of the group reside.
Nearly 90% of Asian and Pacific Islander men and 80% of women were high school graduates. Forty-one percent held at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 22% of Americans overall.
College-educated Asian and Pacific Islander women reported earnings comparable with those of non-Hispanic white women working full time in 1993, but men within the group earned a median income of $41,220, compared with $47,180 for non-Hispanic white men. That’s just $87 for every $100 earned by a non-Hispanic white man.
The disparity was greater among those without college educations. Asian and Pacific Islander women earned $17,330 and men earned $23,490, compared with $28,370 for non-Hispanic white men and $19,850 for women.
Similar proportions of Asian and Pacific Islander and non-Hispanic white men were employed as executives, salesmen and machinists.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
