Chapter 7 · The electorate
The South Asian electorate, 2005 to 2024
South Asian American adult citizens rose from 1.02 million in 2005 to 3.13 million in 2024, and another 1.89 million South Asian adults (38%) could not vote because they were not citizens.
Adult citizens are the standard measure of who is eligible to vote, sometimes called the citizen voting-age population. The count does not remove people barred from voting by a felony conviction.In 2024 there were 3.13 million adult US citizens (90% interval ±0.05 million) who gave their race as Asian Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Sri Lankan or Bhutanese in the American Community Survey [1]. They were 1.28% of all adult citizens. In 2005 the same origins, without the Nepali and Bhutanese codes added in 2012 and without people in group quarters, numbered 1.02 million adult citizens, 0.52% of the total. The South Asian count grew by a factor of 3.1 over those 19 years; the count of all adult citizens grew 25%.
This chapter describes who those citizens are: their national origins, how many were born citizens and how many naturalized, how old they are, where they live, and how much schooling and income they have. The American Community Survey (ACS) is the Census Bureau's annual household survey, with about 3.4 million person records a year. It records detailed race, citizenship, birthplace and age, but it does not ask about voting, party or religion. Turnout and vote choice come in chapters 8 and 9.
Indian Americans are most of the total
The ACS added separate codes for Nepali and Bhutanese respondents in 2012, so the series before 2012 leaves them out. The 2020 survey was weighted with an experimental method after the pandemic cut response rates [2].Of the 3.13 million South Asian adult citizens in 2024, 2.43 million (78%) were Indian American, and Indian Americans account for 72% of the growth since 2005. The other groups were much smaller: 379 thousand Pakistani, 156 thousand Bangladeshi, 111 thousand Nepali and 52 thousand Sri Lankan or Bhutanese adult citizens. Among adult citizens who report a single Asian race, the South Asian share rose from 16% in 2005 to 25% in 2024.
Figure 1
South Asian adult citizens rose from 1.02 million in 2005 to 3.13 million in 2024, and Indian Americans account for 72% of the increase
Adult US citizens by national origin, single-race responses, 2005 to 2024, millions. Hover for yearly values.
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About four in ten South Asian adults are not citizens
The ACS does not record visa or residency status, so it cannot separate temporary workers and students from permanent residents who have not yet naturalized.In 2024 the ACS counted 5.02 million South Asian adults. 0.88 million were born citizens, 2.25 million were naturalized and 1.89 million were not citizens. Citizens were 62% of South Asian adults, compared with 73% of all adults who report a single Asian race and 92% of all US adults. The share was 52% in 2005. The number of South Asian adults who were not citizens doubled over the period, from 0.94 million to 1.89 million.
The rate differs by origin. In 2024, citizens were 60% of Indian adults, 55% of Nepali adults, 66% of Bangladeshi adults and 80% of Pakistani adults.
Figure 2
South Asian adults who are not citizens rose from 0.94 million in 2005 to 1.89 million in 2024
South Asian adults by citizenship status, 2005 to 2024, millions. Hover for yearly values.
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Most South Asian citizens under 25 were born citizens
Only 28% of South Asian adult citizens were born citizens in 2024; the rest naturalized. Among the young that share is reversed. In 2022 to 2024, 80% of South Asian residents under 18 were born citizens, and 77% of South Asian citizens aged 18 to 24 were born citizens. The ACS counted an average of 1,183 thousand South Asian citizens under 18 in those years, 491 thousand of them aged 10 to 17, who reach voting age within eight years. Among South Asian residents aged 25 to 44, 53% were not citizens.
Figure 3
80% of South Asian residents under 18 are born citizens; 53% of those aged 25 to 44 are not citizens
South Asian residents by age and citizenship status, average of 2022, 2023 and 2024, thousands. Hover for each segment.
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Where South Asian citizens live
State figures average the 2022, 2023 and 2024 surveys to reduce sampling error. States with fewer than 100 South Asian survey records, or a coefficient of variation above 30%, are suppressed.Across 2022 to 2024, South Asians were 1.2% of adult citizens nationally. New Jersey had the highest share, 3.8% (243 thousand adult citizens), followed by New York at 2.5%, Virginia at 2.0% and California at 2.0%. California had the largest number, 525 thousand. California, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois together held 56% of South Asian adult citizens.
The 2026 Voter Poll, a survey of about 80,000 voters conducted by SSRS for the Associated Press and the television networks, published results for Asian voters in statewide races in California, Hawaii, Nevada, New York and Texas [4, 5]. Those five states held 42% of South Asian adult citizens. Several states where South Asians are a larger share of citizens than nationally, among them New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and Massachusetts, had no published Asian estimate; the network tables report "not enough data" for Asian voters in their statewide races [6].
Figure 4
South Asians are 3.8% of adult citizens in New Jersey, 3.1 times the national share
South Asian share of adult citizens by state, 2022 to 2024 average, with 90% intervals; the 22 states with the highest shares. Right column: South Asian adult citizens.
- * Asian voters reported in the 2026 Voter Poll
- Other states
Show data
Origin groups differ in schooling and income
Household income is the 2024 income of the household each adult citizen lives in, in nominal dollars; medians weight each adult citizen equally. People in group quarters are excluded from the income column. Chapter 3 reports household medians pooled over 2022 to 2024, in 2024 dollars and weighted by household, which are lower: $163,100 for Indian households there, against $190 thousand for Indian adult citizens here.South Asian adult citizens have more formal schooling than other adult citizens. In 2024, 70% of those aged 25 and older held a bachelor's degree or more (90% interval ±0.8 points), compared with 53% of other Asian American adult citizens and 38% of all adult citizens. 38% held a graduate degree. The median household income of South Asian adult citizens was $172 thousand, against $99 thousand for all adult citizens.
These averages mostly reflect Indian Americans, who are 78% of the group. Bangladeshi and Nepali adult citizens have lower degree rates (55% and 43%) and lower household incomes ($98 thousand and $122 thousand) than Indian adult citizens (74% and $190 thousand). Only 9% of Nepali adult citizens were born citizens, the lowest share of the origin groups in Figure 5; chapter 1 reports that Nepali immigrants are also the most recent arrivals.
Figure 5
Indian American adult citizens have the highest degree rates and household incomes of the South Asian origin groups
Adult citizens by origin, 2024.
Table of adult citizens in 2024 for South Asian Americans, five origin groups, other Asian Americans and all adult citizens. South Asian: 3,129 thousand adult citizens, 70% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $172 thousand; Indian: 2,432 thousand adult citizens, 74% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $190 thousand; Pakistani: 379 thousand adult citizens, 61% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $129 thousand; Bangladeshi: 156 thousand adult citizens, 55% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $98 thousand; Nepali: 111 thousand adult citizens, 43% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $122 thousand; Sri Lankan or Bhutanese: 52 thousand adult citizens, 56% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $128 thousand; Other Asian American: 9,582 thousand adult citizens, 53% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $129 thousand; All adult citizens: 245,323 thousand adult citizens, 38% with a bachelor's degree or more, median household income $99 thousand.
| Group | Adult citizens (thousands) | Citizens as % of adults | Born a citizen, % of citizens | Median age | Bachelor's degree or more, % (25+) | Graduate degree, % (25+) | Median household income ($ thousands) | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Asian | 3,129 | 62 | 28 | 45 | 70 | 38 | 172 | 30,716 |
| Indian | 2,432 | 60 | 29 | 46 | 74 | 42 | 190 | 24,210 |
| Pakistani | 379 | 80 | 31 | 40 | 61 | 28 | 129 | 3,523 |
| Bangladeshi | 156 | 66 | 20 | 41 | 55 | 26 | 98 | 1,548 |
| Nepali | 111 | 55 | 9 | 38 | 43 | 20 | 122 | 928 |
| Sri Lankan or Bhutanese | 52 | 70 | 16 | 47 | 56 | 32 | 128 | 507 |
| Other Asian American | 9,582 | 77 | 38 | 48 | 53 | 20 | 129 | 102,087 |
| All adult citizens | 245,323 | 92 | 90 | 48 | 38 | 15 | 99 | 2,619,736 |
What these counts cannot show
The counts use single-race responses. People who report South Asian origin together with a non-Asian race cannot be separated in these files and are left out. For immigrants the loss is small: 91% of adult citizens born in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka or Bhutan report one of the South Asian race codes. No similar check is possible for the US-born.
Indo-Caribbean Americans, whose families came from South Asia by way of Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and other countries, fit the definition unevenly. In 2022 to 2024 about 67 thousand adult citizens who reported Asian Indian race were born in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Jamaica or Fiji, and they are counted here. Many others report a different race; the ACS counted 416 thousand adult citizens born in Guyana or Trinidad and Tobago of any race. Identity labels are contested within the group as well. In the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey, only about four in ten respondents said "Indian American" best described their background [7].
The ACS cannot say who registered, who voted or how anyone voted. Those questions need the Current Population Survey's voting supplement and election surveys with national-origin questions, which chapters 8 and 9 use.
Data sources
- American Community Survey 1-year samples (IPUMS USA)1-year public-use microdata, 2005 to 2024, and the matching person replicate weights, extracted from IPUMS USA [1]Years: 2005 to 2024 · Weights: PERWT, with the 80 replicate weights REPWTP
Methods
Sample. Persons in the ACS 1-year samples. Adults are aged 18 and older. Citizens are respondents born in the US or its territories, born abroad to US-citizen parents, or naturalized (IPUMS CITIZEN codes 0, 1 and 2). The 2005 sample excludes group quarters.
Group definition. South Asian means a single-race detailed response (IPUMS RACED) of Asian Indian (610, plus 678 Asian Indian with another Asian write-in, and 657 Sikh, a write-in with its own code only in the 2023 sample), Pakistani (669), Bangladeshi (664), Nepali (643), Sri Lankan (670) or Bhutanese (641). Nepali and Bhutanese codes start in 2012. Sri Lankan and Bhutanese respondents are combined into one group in this chapter because a single ACS year has too few Bhutanese records for separate estimates; the other ACS chapters, which mostly pool three years, report them separately. "Other Asian American" is any other single-race Asian response, excluding Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander codes.
Weights and uncertainty. All estimates use the person weight PERWT. Standard errors use the 80 successive-difference replicate weights, with variance (4/80) times the sum of squared replicate deviations [8]; intervals are 90% (1.645 standard errors). The 2020 sample uses experimental weights [2], and its replicate-based interval is not shown. State estimates and the age distribution average the 2022, 2023 and 2024 annual estimates. State estimates are suppressed when a state has fewer than 100 South Asian records or a coefficient of variation above 30%. This rule is stricter than the one in the other ACS chapters, which suppress estimates based on fewer than 50 records and flag those based on fewer than 200. Medians are weighted and reported without intervals. With about 30,716 South Asian adult-citizen records in 2024, national shares for the group carry intervals under one percentage point.
Reproduction. south-asian-voters/chapters/01-electorate/build_data.py computes every number from the IPUMS parquet store and writes data.json and claims.json; build_page.py assembles this page.
References
- Ruggles, S.; Flood, S.; Sobek, M.; Backman, D.; Cooper, G.; Rivera Drew, J. A.; Richards, S.; Rodgers, R.; Schroeder, J.; Williams, K. C. W. (2025). IPUMS USA: Version 16.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS. doi:10.18128/D010.V16.0
- Rothbaum, J.; Eggleston, J.; Bee, A.; Klee, M.; Mendez-Smith, B. (2021). Addressing Nonresponse Bias in the American Community Survey During the Pandemic Using Administrative Data. US Census Bureau, ACS21-RER-05. www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2021/acs/2021_Rothbaum_01.html
- US Census Bureau (2025). Population Controls and Other Methodology for the 2024 ACS 1-Year Estimates. ACS user note. www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation/user-notes/2025-03.html
- PBS NewsHour (2026). AP Voter Poll: how key demographic groups voted in the 2026 midterms. PBS NewsHour. www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-voter-poll-how-key-demographic-groups-voted-in-the-2026-midterms
- NBC News (2026). 2026 exit polls and state results pages, e.g. California governor. NBC News (California governor results: nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/california-governor-results). www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls
- NBC News (2026). Georgia governor results, 2026 Voter Poll tables. NBC News. www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/georgia-governor-results
- Badrinathan, S.; Kapur, D.; Kay, J.; Vaishnav, M. (2021). Social Realities of Indian Americans: Results From the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. carnegieendowment.org/research/2021/06/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-the-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey
- US Census Bureau (2010). American Community Survey Design and Methodology, chapter 12: Variance Estimation. US Census Bureau. www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2010/acs/acs_design_methodology_ch12.pdf
How to cite
@misc{singh2026electorate,
author = {Singh, Vishal},
title = {The South Asian electorate, 2005 to 2024},
year = {2026},
url = {https://vishalsingh.org/south-asians/electorate},
note = {South Asians in America, chapter 7. Published 7 November 2026.}
}Acknowledgments
Microdata are from IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota.