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May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, dedicated to the celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. In 1978, the first 10 days of May were selected to honor Asian/Pacific American history; in 1992, Congress expanded the observance to the entire month of May.
According to the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month website, May was chosen to commemorate the first Japanese immigrating to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and to recognize the anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion on May 10, 1869. Chinese immigrants comprised the majority of the workers who laid the railroad’s tracks.
As part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Facts for Features (FFF), they highlighted the following statistics.
Asian Americans
- 21 million is the estimated number of Asian alone or in combination residents in the U.S. in 2015
- $76,260 is the median income of households headed by the Asian alone or in combination population in 2015
- The poverty rate for the Asian alone or in combination population in 2015
- 5 percent of the Asian alone or in combination population age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2015, compared to 30.6 percent for all Americans age 25 and older
- 34 was the median age of the Asian alone or in combination population in 2015; for the population as a whole, 37.8 was the median age
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders
- 5 million was the estimated number of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination residents of the United States in 2015
- $60,133 is the median income of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination headed households in 2015
- 3 percent is the poverty rate of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population in 2015
- 5 percent of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2015
- 28 was the median age of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination population in 2015
To learn about events taking place as part of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2017, please visit the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month website.