Asian Americans have been the fastest growing group of voters in the United States for approximately the past two decades and since 2020. The number of Asian Americans has increased by 15%, or about 2 million voters, over the past four years. This is faster than the 3% growth rate for all voters and the 12% growth rate for Hispanic voters during that period.
Asian Americans typically lean toward the Democratic Party. In 2020, 72% of Anglophone, single-race, non-Hispanic Asian voters supported Democrat Joe Biden for president, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of verified voters. 28% said they voted for Republican Donald Trump. .
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, here are six important facts about Asian American voters in the United States, based on our own 2024 projections and past years of Census Bureau data. (Voters in this analysis are defined as citizens 18 years of age or older who reside in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Not all voters are physically registered to vote. Learn more about Asian American voters Demographic information is available in the dropdown box at the bottom of this post.
This post is one in a series examining the U.S. voter population in 2024. This analysis examines the detailed demographic and geographic distribution of Asian Americans eligible to vote in the United States in 2022. Voter population in November 2024.
“Voter” means a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age or older. The analysis focuses on people living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. For this analysis, Hispanics are people who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. Black and Asian populations include people who identify as only one race, multiple races, and both Hispanic and non-Hispanic.
This analysis was based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2022, 2020, 2016, 2012, and 2008, as well as data from the 2000 U.S. Community Survey provided through the University of Minnesota’s Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS). Based on annual census.
The November 2024 projections are based on 2010-2022 American Community Surveys (IPUMS) data and population projections by race, Hispanic origin, and nativity produced by the Census Bureau. Projected percentages of the U.S. population by age are based on trends from the 2010-2022 American Community Surveys (IPUMS).
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Pew Research Center estimates that 15 million Asian Americans will be eligible to vote this November, accounting for just 6.1% of the total electorate. However, our projections show that the number of Asian American voters and their share of the U.S. voting population increased significantly from 2020 to this year. (From 2000 to 2020, single-race non-Hispanic Asian Americans constituted the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. electorate.)
As of 2022, most Asian American voters (55%) live in only five states. California has the highest number of Asian American voters ever (4.4 million). The state is home to nearly a third (31%) of all Asian voters in the United States. The states with the next largest number of Asian American voters are New York (1.2 million), Texas (1.1 million), Hawaii (580,000), and New Jersey (575,000).
Hawaii is the only state where Asian Americans make up a majority of voters. Asian Americans make up 55% of the electorate in Hawaii, making it the only state with a majority of races and ethnicities other than single-race white non-Hispanic voters. The states with the next largest percentages of Asian voters are California (17%) and Nevada (11%).
Hawaii also has the highest percentage of Asians eligible to vote. Approximately 7 in 10 Asians (71%) are eligible to vote in the state, the highest percentage of any state with an Asian population of 50,000 or more. Following Hawaii on this metric are Nevada (65%), Oregon (62%), California (62%) and Louisiana (60%).
Overall, more than half (58%) of Asian Americans in the United States are eligible to vote. In comparison, 72% of the total U.S. population is eligible.
Asian Americans are less likely to be eligible to vote than Americans overall because they are largely immigrants who are not U.S. citizens. Non-voting Asian immigrants include permanent residents (green card holders) and those seeking to become permanent residents. People who are in the United States on a temporary visa. and illegal immigration.
The majority of Asian American voters are naturalized citizens, not U.S.-born citizens. Asian Americans are the only major racial or ethnic group in which a larger proportion of voters are naturalized citizens than native-born citizens (56% vs. 44%).
Asian American voters are more likely to have a bachelor’s degree than the electorate overall. As of 2020, half of Asian American voters have a bachelor’s degree or higher education. By comparison, one-third of all U.S. voters have at least a bachelor’s degree. Asian voters are also more likely than voters in general to have some kind of graduate degree, such as a master’s or law degree (20% vs. 13%).
However, the center’s past analysis has shown wide disparities in educational attainment among Asian groups in the United States.
Asian American voters are relatively highly educated. About four in ten (41%) Asian voters are over the age of 50. On the other hand, about half (48%) of all U.S. voters vote.
Detailed data on Asian American voters by state in 2022
