Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, and Nepali populations in the United States · how five national-origin groups within "South Asian American" differ on demographics, economics, education, and identity.
Primary source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2021–2023 American Community Survey (released April 2025) · supplemental data from Pew "Religion among Asian Americans" (2023), Carnegie IAAS (2024), USCIS, DHS, MPI
Indian
5.2M
2nd largest Asian-origin group
Pakistani
680K
7th largest Asian-origin group
Bangladeshi
300K
12th largest Asian-origin group
Sri Lankan
85K
17th largest Asian-origin group
Nepali
225K
Fastest-growing of the five
Demographics & Migration Pew + ACS 2021–23
Key takeaway: The five communities differ sharply in age and tenure. Nepali-Americans are the most foreign-born (77%) and the fastest-growing — effectively a first-generation community. Indian and Pakistani populations are larger and more established, with a meaningful US-born second generation already coming of age. Sri Lankans are the smallest but the oldest in median age.
Population in the U.S. (2023)
"Alone or in any combination" estimate, in thousands
Source: Pew Research Center, fact sheets per origin group, 2021–23 ACS
Foreign-born share of population (2023)
Higher = more recently arrived; lower = larger US-born second generation
Source: Pew Research Center, fact sheets per origin group
Population growth, 2000–2023
% increase in "[group] alone" population
Source: Pew Research Center; for Nepali, growth shown 2010–23 (population rounding causes higher denominators in 2000)
Naturalized share among foreign-born
% of immigrants who are U.S. citizens
Source: Pew Research Center, ACS-based estimates
Primary U.S. immigration pathway
Dominant legal channel for the foreign-born population (qualitative)
Group
Dominant pathway
Notable patterns
Indian
Employment-based (H-1B)
India received 71% of all H-1B approvals in FY 2024 (USCIS); long EB-2/EB-3 green-card backlogs (decades for some)
Pakistani
Family reunification + diversity visa
Pakistan still eligible for the DV lottery; longstanding family-chain migration
Bangladeshi
Family reunification (post-DV era)
Top-6 DV recipient country 1995–2012 (~41K visas); removed from DV eligibility in 2012 after exceeding 50K threshold
Sri Lankan
Mixed: family, employment, asylum
Significant Tamil refugee/asylum cohort during 1983–2009 civil war; smaller, professional family-based flow since
Nepali
Diversity visa + students + TPS
3,863 DV-2024 winners (3rd in Asia); large F-1 student inflow; Nepal under TPS since 2015 earthquake
Sources: USCIS H-1B Characteristics Reports; State Department DV statistics; CRS Report R45102; MPI country profiles
Economic Outcomes Pew + ACS 2021–23
Key takeaway: The "model minority" headline hides a wide spread. Indian-headed households earn nearly twice as much as Bangladeshi-headed households at the median, and have roughly one-third the poverty rate. Sri Lankan and Nepali households cluster around the Asian-American median (~$105K); Pakistani sits in the middle; Bangladeshi has the lowest income and highest poverty among the five.
Median household income (2023)
In US dollars; reference line at U.S. overall median ($77,719)
Source: Pew Research Center fact sheets, 2021–23 ACS
Poverty rate (2023)
% of population living below the federal poverty line; reference U.S. = 12.5%
Source: Pew Research Center fact sheets
Homeownership rate (2023)
% of households owning their home; reference Asian-American = 62%, U.S. overall = 65%
Source: Pew Research Center fact sheets
Labor force participation rate
% of population age 16+ in the labor force; reference U.S. = ~63%
Source: Pew Research Center fact sheets, ACS-based
Income inequality within each community
% of households earning $100K+ vs. % living in poverty
Source: Pew Research Center fact sheets, ACS-based; figures rounded
Education & Language Pew + ACS 2021–23
Key takeaway: Indian-Americans hold the highest BA-or-above share (77%) of any major U.S. ancestry group. Pakistani and Sri Lankan attainment (60%) is well above the U.S. average (~36%). Bangladeshi (41%) and Nepali (51%) attainment is more moderate — still above the U.S. baseline, but reflecting different immigration pathways. Bangladeshi and Nepali communities also have the highest shares of limited-English-proficient speakers.
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)
Reference: U.S. overall = 36%, Asian-American = 56%
Source: Pew Research Center fact sheets, 2021–23 ACS
Limited English proficiency (LEP)
% of population age 5+ who speak English less than "very well"
Source: Pew Research Center; some figures derived from KFF, MPI, AAJC analyses of ACS
Most-spoken languages at home
Notable South Asian languages spoken in U.S. households (rough national counts of speakers)
Group
Top languages spoken at home
Indian
Hindi (~640K speakers nationally), Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada — no single language dominates
Pakistani
Urdu (dominant), Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi
Bangladeshi
Bengali / Bangla (overwhelmingly dominant)
Sri Lankan
Sinhala, Tamil
Nepali
Nepali (dominant), with smaller Newari, Hindi
Source: ACS B16001 Language Spoken at Home; Center for American Progress (2014); Pew Research
Key takeaway: “South Asian” in the U.S. spans Hindu (Indian plurality, Nepali majority), Muslim (Pakistani & Bangladeshi supermajorities, Indian minority), Buddhist (Sri Lankan plurality), Christian and Sikh communities. This is arguably the most religiously diverse pan-ethnic category in the U.S. racial schema — and that diversity means very different lived experiences with discrimination, civic identity, and political alignment.
Religious composition by national origin
Stacked share, %; from Pew "Religion among Asian Americans" (Oct 2023). Sri Lankan and Nepali figures derived from smaller Pew samples and from Pew's earlier "Mosaic of Faiths" + national-origin patterns — treat as approximate.
Source: Pew Research Center, "Religion among Asian Americans" (2023); Pew "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths" (2012, updated)
Indian-American party identification & vote
2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey (Carnegie Endowment); the only one of the five with robust per-origin polling
Source: Carnegie Endowment, "Indian Americans at the Ballot Box" (Oct 2024), n=714
Note on civic data gaps: Robust polling of party ID and voting behavior exists for the six largest Asian-American groups (Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese). Pakistani and Bangladeshi voters are typically captured only in pooled "South Asian" or "other Asian" categories in the Asian American Voter Survey. Sri Lankan and Nepali samples are too small for reliable origin-specific estimates. Aggregate AAPI data show ~60–65% AAPI support for the Democratic candidate in 2024, ~35% for Trump.
Public Benefits & Health Coverage ACS + KFF + AAPI Data + AAF
Read this section with structural context in mind. Three federal rules shape every figure on this page: (1) the 1996 PRWORA "5-year bar" excludes most legal permanent residents from federal means-tested benefits for five years after green-card receipt; (2) refugees and asylees (relevant for the ~30,000–40,000 Bhutanese-Americans, who are mostly Lhotshampa refugees of ethnic Nepali origin) are exempt from the 5-year bar; and (3) the 2019–2021 "public charge" rule produced a documented chilling effect that suppressed Asian-immigrant Medicaid and SNAP enrollment by an estimated 8–9 percentage points. Per-origin breakouts are also patchier than the income/education numbers — what's published reliably is for the larger groups; figures for Sri Lankan and Nepali Americans are inferred from broader Asian-immigrant data.
Uninsured rate (no health insurance)
% of nonelderly population without health coverage. Reference: U.S. overall ~8%, Asian-American ~5.8% (2023).
Source: KFF analysis of 2021 ACS for Asian Indian (~4%); other groups estimated from KFF / ASPE 2021–2023 reports and AAF NYC profiles. Sri Lankan and Nepali figures are approximate.
Households receiving SNAP (food assistance)
% of households with any SNAP/food-stamp benefits. Reference: U.S. overall ~12%, Asian-American ~9%.
Source: AAPI Data "Economic Hardship" (2022); Asian American Federation NYC profiles; ACS-derived approximations for Sri Lankan and Nepali. Bhutanese (separate Census group, refugee origin) reached ~67% SNAP participation in 2015.
Medicaid coverage (any household member)
% with Medicaid as primary or secondary coverage. Higher = more reliance on public health coverage.
Source: AAPI Data; Census ACS B19056. Hmong, Burmese, Bhutanese, and Mongolian populations have the highest SSI receipt among Asian groups.
Why the Bhutanese-American figure matters for the Nepali story
Bhutanese-Americans (separate Census category, ~30K–40K) are mostly Lhotshampa refugees of ethnic Nepali origin resettled 2008–2017
Factor
Bhutanese-American (refugee origin)
Other Nepali-American (DV / family / student)
Eligibility for federal benefits
Immediately eligible upon arrival (refugee status)
Subject to 5-year bar for most federal means-tested benefits
Initial federal support
Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) for first 8 months
None — must rely on family, employer benefits, or state programs (CA, NY)
SNAP participation (2015 ACS estimate)
~67% of households
~5–10%, comparable to other recent Asian immigrants
Population
~30,000–40,000
~225,000 (Nepalese alone, 2023)
Source: USCRI, Office of Refugee Resettlement, AAPI Data, Urban Institute "Asian Americans Falling Through Cracks" (2022)
Three pieces of structural context for these numbers
Mechanism
Effect on these figures
PRWORA 5-year bar (1996)
Most LPRs cannot access federal SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, or SSI for 5 years after receiving a green card. Indian-Americans, with their long employment-based green-card backlogs, often pass the bar with little need for public benefits anyway.
Refugee exemption
Refugees and asylees are exempt from the 5-year bar. Bhutanese-Americans, Tamil Sri Lankan asylees, and Afghan parolees show much higher utilization rates than non-refugee co-ethnics — not because they "need more," but because they're eligible immediately.
Public charge chilling effect (2019–2021)
The Trump-era public charge rule treated Medicaid and SNAP use as negative factors in green-card adjudication. Roughly 25% of noncitizen immigrants reported avoiding benefits; KFF and Health Affairs found the chilling effect persisted even after the rule was rescinded in 2021. Underutilization of eligible benefits is itself a measured outcome.
Sources: KFF "Potential Chilling Effects of Public Charge"; MPI "Chilling Effects" (2018); Health Affairs (2022); CRS PRWORA briefs
Side-by-Side: All metrics Reference table
Metric
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Sri Lankan
Nepali
All figures are most-recent estimates from Pew Research Center fact sheets (2021–23 ACS), released April 2025, unless otherwise noted in the dashboard tabs above. Figures preceded by "~" are approximations or derived from secondary analyses. Civic and intermarriage figures often have small samples for the smaller groups; treat as directional.