Asian Americans fastest-growing group of eligible voters: Pew

Asian Americans have been the fastest-growing group of eligible voters in the United States over roughly the past two decades and since 2020, according to a new survey released ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Their number has grown by 15%, or about 2 million eligible voters, in the past four years, according to Pew Research Center, a Washington think tank. That’s faster than the 3% growth rate for all eligible voters during that span and the 12% for Hispanic eligible voters.

Asian Americans typically lean Democratic. In 2020, 72% of English-speaking, single-race, non-Hispanic Asian voters said they voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president, while 28% said they voted for Republican Donald Trump, according to a Pew analysis of validated voters.

For Asian American voters policy more important than race: Pew survey (September 27, 2023)

This November, a projected 15.0 million Asian Americans will be eligible to vote, making up just 6.1% of all eligible voters, according to Pew Research Center projections for 2024.

However, the number of Asian American eligible voters and their share of the US eligible voter population increased substantially between 2020 and this year, it says. Between 2000 and 2020, single-race, non-Hispanic Asian Americans made up the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the US electorate.

Overall, more than half of all Asian Americans in the US (58%) are eligible to vote. By comparison, 72% of the total US population is eligible. Asian Americans are less likely than Americans overall to be eligible to vote because a significant share are immigrants who are not US citizens.

Asian immigrants who are not eligible to vote include permanent residents (green card holders) and those in the process of becoming permanent residents; those in the US on temporary visas; and unauthorized immigrants.

A majority of Asian American eligible voters are naturalized citizens, not US-born citizens. Asian Americans are the only major racial or ethnic group where more of its eligible voters are naturalized citizens than US-born citizens (56% vs. 44%).

Asian Americans share a sense of belonging in the US: Study (August 2, 2022)

Asian American eligible voters are more likely than the overall eligible voter population to have a bachelor’s degree. As of 2020, half of Asian American eligible voters have a bachelor’s degree or more education.

By comparison, a third of all US eligible voters have at least a bachelor’s degree. Asian eligible voters are also more likely than the general eligible voter population to have a postgraduate degree of some kind, such as a master’s degree or law degree (20% vs. 13%).

However, past Pew analysis indicates that educational attainment varies widely across Asian-origin groups in the US.

Asian American eligible voters have relatively high levels of educational attainment. About four in ten Asian eligible voters (41%) are ages 50 and older. Meanwhile, about half of all US eligible voters are (48%).

As of 2022, most Asian American eligible voters (55%) live in only five states. California has the highest number of Asian American eligible voters by far (4.4 million).

The state is home to nearly a third (31%) of the entire US Asian electorate. The states with the next-most Asian American eligible 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 the eligible voter population. Asian Americans make up 55% of the electorate in Hawaii, the only state where a racial or ethnic group other than single-race White, non-Hispanic eligible voters are the majority.

The states with the next-largest shares of Asian eligible voters are California (17%) and Nevada (11%).

Hawaii also has the highest share of Asians who are eligible to vote. About seven in ten Asians (71%) in the state are eligible to vote, the highest share of any state with an Asian population of 50,000 or more. Following Hawaii on this measure are Nevada (65%), Oregon (62%), California (62%) and Louisiana (60%).