Where South Asian Americans work

Workers are employed civilians aged 16 and over in the pooled 2022, 2023 and 2024 American Community Survey samples. South Asian means single-race Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Sri Lankan or Bhutanese, as in chapter 1.
These figures count all residents. Among workers who are US citizens, South Asian Americans were 1.3% of workers, 8.7% of software developers and 10.8% of physicians.19.9% of US software developers in 2022–24 were South Asian Americans (90% interval 19.6 to 20.3), about 435,000 people in an average year, though South Asian Americans were 2.0% of all US workers [1]. They were also 12.5% of physicians (12.0 to 13.0); counting surgeons, who have a separate code, the share was 12.1%. Software development alone employed 13.2% of South Asian American workers, and their five largest occupations held 25%.

The concentration is mostly Indian American. A quarter of Indian American workers (25.0%) held computer and mathematical jobs, against 3.9% of all US workers, and 75.5% held management, business, science and arts jobs, against 43.1%. Bangladeshi American workers were more often than all US workers in transportation and sales jobs, and Nepali American workers in transportation, sales and food, cleaning and care jobs. Their median full-time, year-round earnings ($61,800 and $62,300) were below the median for all US full-time, year-round workers aged 25 to 64 ($64,700); the Nepali difference is within sampling error.

Computer occupations and physicians had the largest South Asian shares

Among occupations with at least 200 South Asian records, the South Asian share of all US workers was highest among software developers (19.9%), followed by software quality assurance analysts and testers (18.0%), computer hardware engineers (16.2%) and database administrators and architects (14.7%). The order of these three is not firm, because the computer hardware engineers' interval (13.9 to 18.6) overlaps both of the others. Outside science, engineering, technology and medicine, South Asian Americans were 7.2% of taxi drivers and 5.8% of lodging managers.

Two in three South Asian software developers (66%) were not US citizens. The ACS does not record visa type. In fiscal year 2025, 62% of approved H-1B petitions for specialty-occupation workers were for computer-related occupations and 70% were for workers born in India; approvals include petitions for continuing employment as well as new hires [2]. Among South Asian physicians, 20% were not citizens. In 2024, Caribbean medical schools, taken together, had trained the largest share of internationally trained physicians licensed in the US (23%); schools in India had trained 21% and schools in Pakistan 6% [3].

Figure 1

South Asian Americans were 19.9% of US software developers and 12.5% of physicians, against 2.0% of all workers

South Asian Americans as a share of all US workers in each occupation, pooled 2022–24, with 90% intervals: the 14 occupations with the highest shares among those with at least 200 South Asian records, plus taxi drivers, lodging managers, pharmacists, dentists, cashiers and registered nurses. The dashed line is the share of all workers.

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Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Nepali American workers held a wider mix of jobs

The five largest occupations held 19.4% of Pakistani, 20.8% of Bangladeshi and 19.7% of Nepali American workers, against 28.0% of Indian American workers. 12.0% of Pakistani American workers (90% interval 11.2 to 12.7) were healthcare practitioners and technical workers, against 10.0% of Indian American workers, and their largest single occupation was physician. Bangladeshi American workers were most often cashiers (5.3%), taxi drivers (4.8%) and software developers (4.0%). In New York City, 23% of yellow-medallion taxi drivers were born in Bangladesh, 9% in Pakistan and 8% in India, by the city's 2020 count; among drivers for app-based services, 9% were born in Bangladesh [4]. Nepali American workers were most often software developers (6.1%), registered nurses (3.9%) and first-line supervisors of retail sales workers and cashiers (3.4% each). The Bhutanese estimates rest on 190 worker records.

Indian Americans also stand apart in field of degree. 50.6% of employed Indian American bachelor's degree holders aged 25 to 64 had a degree in computer science, mathematics or engineering, against 25.9% of Pakistani, 33.6% of Bangladeshi and 29.7% of Nepali American graduates and 15.1% of all employed US graduates.

Figure 2

25.0% of Indian American workers held computer and mathematical jobs, against 3.9% of all US workers

Bangladeshi and Nepali Americans were more often in transportation jobs than all US workers (10.9% and 11.4% against 7.6%). Share of each group's workers in selected occupation groups, pooled 2022–24, with 90% intervals. † fewer than 200 records.

• South Asian origin
• All South Asian
• Other Asian American
• All US workers

† Small sample.

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South Asian Americans were 28% of the self-employed at gasoline stations and 21% among convenience retailers

12.8% of Pakistani American workers were self-employed, against 10.0% of all US workers, and 7.2% were self-employed in incorporated businesses, against 4.0%. Indian American workers were less often self-employed (8.0%) but more often self-employed in incorporated businesses (4.8% against 4.0%).

Self-employed South Asian Americans work in many industries. The largest were computer systems design and related services (8.0%), taxi and limousine service (7.2%), offices of physicians (5.4%) and truck transportation (5.3%). Gasoline stations, convenience retailers and traveler accommodation together held 7.0% of them. In those three industries, though, South Asian Americans were 27.7% of the self-employed at gasoline stations (90% interval 24.1 to 31.4), 21.2% among convenience retailers (17.2 to 25.1) and 13.2% in traveler accommodation, which includes hotels and motels (10.6 to 15.9). They were 6.5%, 5.9% and 2.3% of all workers in those industries. Most were Indian American (20.8%, 15.7% and 12.1% of the self-employed). The self-employed estimates for convenience retailers and traveler accommodation rest on 152 and 169 South Asian records.

The Asian American Hotel Owners Association says its members own about 60% of US hotels, a count of properties [5]. The ACS counts people who report self-employment in the industry, not properties, so the two figures measure different things. Kalnins and Chung study how co-ethnic networks relate to the survival of hotels owned by Gujarati immigrant entrepreneurs [6].

Figure 3

South Asian Americans were 28% of self-employed workers at gasoline stations and 21% among convenience retailers, against about 6% of all workers in those industries

South Asian Americans as a share of all workers and of self-employed workers in selected industries, pooled 2022–24, with 90% intervals. † fewer than 200 records.

• Share of all workers in the industry
• Share of self-employed workers in the industry

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Matched on state and graduate degree, South Asian workers' median earnings were above other workers' in 6 of their 12 largest occupations and below in 2

In 2022–24, the median full-time, year-round Indian American worker aged 25 to 64 earned $116,400 in 2024 dollars (90% interval $115,500 to $117,300), the Sri Lankan $89,600 and the Pakistani $78,600. The Bangladeshi median ($61,800; $58,900 to $64,600) was below the median for all US full-time, year-round workers aged 25 to 64 ($64,700), and the Nepali median ($62,300; $59,500 to $65,100) could not be told apart from it. The median was $100,300 for Indian American women and $131,400 for men.

In the 12 occupations with the most South Asian full-time workers, the South Asian median was above the median for other workers in the same occupation in 11, by more than sampling error in 10, and below it by more than sampling error in none. South Asian workers in these jobs differ in where they live and in their degrees: 59% of South Asian full-time software developers had a graduate degree, against 28% of other full-time software developers. When other workers are reweighted to the South Asian mix of state and graduate degree, the South Asian median was above the matched median in 6 occupations, below it in 2 (software developers and accountants and auditors) and within sampling error in 4. The median South Asian software developer earned $145,400, against medians of $136,500 for other software developers and $150,200 for other software developers matched on state and degree. The comparison does not hold detailed job, employer or experience fixed.

Figure 4

South Asian full-time workers' median earnings were above other workers' by more than sampling error in 10 of their 12 largest occupations

Matched on state and graduate degree, 6 stayed above and 2 fell below. Median annual earnings of full-time, year-round workers aged 25 to 64, pooled 2022–24, 2024 dollars. South Asian medians with 90% intervals; other workers' medians, raw and matched.

• South Asian full-time workers
• Other full-time workers in the occupation
• Other workers matched on state and graduate degree

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South Asian Americans' share of US computer workers rose from 7% in 2005 to 12% in 2024, while their share of all workers more than doubled

In 2005, South Asian Americans were 7.0% of US workers in computer and mathematical occupations; in 2024 they were 11.8%. Their share of healthcare practitioners and technical workers went from 1.9% to 3.2%, and their share of all workers from 0.9% to 2.1%. Their share of computer workers was 7.4 times their share of all workers in 2005 and 5.6 times in 2024. Indian Americans were 10.9% of computer workers in 2024, most of the South Asian share. For the pooled 2022–24 samples, the computer share is 11.5% with a 90% interval of 11.3 to 11.6.Occupation groups use the first two digits of the Standard Occupational Classification, which are broadly comparable across the 2000, 2010 and 2018 revisions. The 2018 revision moved some occupations into the computer group, and the series dips that year (11.3% in 2017, 10.8% in 2018, 11.6% in 2019). Nepali and Bhutanese Americans are coded only from 2012, so earlier years cover four origins. The 2020 sample is the experimental release.

Figure 5

South Asian Americans' share of US computer and mathematical workers rose from 7.0% in 2005 to 11.8% in 2024

South Asian Americans as a share of US workers in each occupation group, single years. 2020 (open markers) is the experimental release.

• Computer and mathematical
• Healthcare practitioners and technical
• All occupations

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What these data cannot show

The ACS records what people report as their job, industry and class of worker. Self-employment is not ownership: an owner who draws a salary from an incorporated business may report as an employee, and the survey does not count businesses, properties or employees. It also does not record visa type, so the share of South Asian software developers who are not citizens (66%) cannot be split into temporary workers, students and permanent residents.

Occupation codes changed in 2018 and industry codes in 2023 [7], so detailed occupations and industries are compared only within the pooled 2022–24 samples, with industry codes that changed combined. Earnings are pre-tax and self-reported. The groups are single-race, as in chapters 1 and 3, and the Bhutanese and Sri Lankan estimates rest on 190 and 1,183 worker records.

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Data sources

• American Community Survey 1-year samples (IPUMS USA)1-year samples 2005 to 2024, with the 80 replicate weights and the supplementary extract with SOC and NAICS codes, business income and field of degree [1]; occupation and industry titles from the Census Bureau's 2018 ACS occupation code list and the IPUMS 2017 and 2022 industry code lists [8, 9]Years: 2005 to 2024 · Weights: PERWT, with the 80 replicate weights REPWTP

Methods

Workers. Employed civilians aged 16 and over (EMPSTAT = 1, armed forces excluded), pooled 2022–24. Counts of workers are annual averages over the three samples (pooled weights divided by three). Groups follow chapter 3: single-race detailed codes (RACED) for the six origins; other Asian American is every other single-race Asian code. Citizen-only shares restrict both the South Asian count and the total to citizens.

Occupations and industries. Census occupation codes (OCC, 2018 list) and industry codes (IND; the 2022 ACS uses the 2017 list and the 2023–24 ACS the 2022 list). Where an industry's code changed between lists, the codes are combined: convenience retailers are 4972 and 5670 (vending machine operators) in 2022 and 4973 in 2023–24; pharmacies are 5070 and 5071. Shares of an occupation or industry divide South Asian workers by all US workers in it. Occupation groups use the first two characters of the SOC code (OCCSOC) [7].

Self-employment. CLASSWKR = 1; incorporated is CLASSWKRD = 14 [10].

Earnings. INCWAGE plus INCBUS00 for workers aged 25 to 64 who usually worked 35 or more hours a week (UHRSWORK) for 50 to 52 weeks (WKSWORK2 = 6), multiplied by the Census income adjustment factor and moved to 2024 dollars with the CPI-U, as in chapter 3 [11][12]. Full-time, year-round follows the Census Bureau's definition [13]. Medians are interpolated within $2,500 bins. The 12 occupations are those with the most South Asian full-time, year-round workers aged 25 to 64. Other workers exclude South Asian Americans. The matched median reweights other workers in each occupation by the ratio of the South Asian to the other-worker share in each state-by-graduate-degree cell (graduate degree means a master's, professional or doctoral degree).

Degrees. Field of first bachelor's degree (DEGFIELD) for employed holders aged 25 to 64: computer and information sciences (21), engineering (24), engineering technologies (25), mathematics and statistics (37).

Uncertainty. 90% intervals from the 80 successive-difference replicate weights, pairing replicate r across pooled years. Denominators of occupation and industry shares, including shares of the self-employed, and other workers' medians are treated as fixed. Estimates on fewer than 50 records are suppressed; fewer than 200 are marked †.

Reproduction. south-asian-voters/chapters/05-work/build_data.py computes every ACS number and writes data.json; build_page.py and charts.js assemble this page; titles.json holds the code titles and quoted outside figures.

References

1. 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
2. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (2026). Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers, Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report to Congress. April 24, 2026. www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/fy25_h1b_characteristics_congress_signed_04242026.pdf
3. Young, A.; Pei, X.; Arnhart, K.; Abraham, G. M.; Chaudhry, H. J. (2025). FSMB Census of Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2024. Journal of Medical Regulation 111(2): 7–17. www.jmronline.org/content/111/2/7
4. New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (2020). 2020 TLC Factbook. Driver demographics. www.nyc.gov/assets/tlc/downloads/pdf/2020-tlc-factbook.pdf
5. Asian American Hotel Owners Association; Oxford Economics (2023). AAHOA Ownership & Economic Impact. National report, August 2, 2023, and AAHOA study page. aahoa.com/oxford-study
6. Kalnins, A.; Chung, W. (2006). Social Capital, Geography, and Survival: Gujarati Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the U.S. Lodging Industry. Management Science 52(2): 233–247. doi:10.1287/mnsc.1050.0481
7. US Census Bureau (2024). American Community Survey 2023 1-Year PUMS User Guide and Overview. October 17, 2024, section on crosswalking industry and occupation codes. www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/tech_docs/pums/2023ACS_PUMS_User_Guide.pdf
8. US Census Bureau (2026). 2018 ACS PUMS and 2018 SIPP Public Use Occupation Code List. Linked from Industry and Occupation Code Lists and Crosswalks, census.gov. www.census.gov/topics/employment/industry-occupation/guidance/code-lists.html
9. IPUMS USA (2026). Industry codes, 2017 classification (2018 to 2022 ACS) and 2022 classification (2023 to 2027 ACS). IPUMS USA (2022 list: https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/ind2022.shtml). usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/ind2017.shtml
10. IPUMS USA (2026). CLASSWKR: Class of worker, variable description and codes. IPUMS USA. usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/CLASSWKR
11. IPUMS USA (2026). Note on the Standardization of ACS/PRCS Income Variables and Other Dollar Amount Variables. IPUMS USA. usa.ipums.org/usa/acsincadj.shtml
12. US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026). Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), US city average, all items. Series CUUR0000SA0, annual averages. data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0
13. US Census Bureau (2023). American Community Survey and Puerto Rico Community Survey 2023 Subject Definitions. "Full-Time, Year-Round Workers". www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/tech_docs/subject_definitions/2023_ACSSubjectDefinitions.pdf

How to cite

@misc{singh2026work,
  author = {Singh, Vishal},
  title = {Where South Asian Americans work},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://vishalsingh.org/south-asians/work},
  note = {South Asians in America, chapter 4. Published 7 November 2026.}
}

Acknowledgments

ACS microdata are from IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota. IPUMS is not responsible for the analysis here.