Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research has released a landmark Asian American Community Study, offering one of the most comprehensive looks yet at the lives, experiences, and perspectives of Asian American residents in the Greater Houston area. The study builds on more than three decades of population research at Rice, expanding the focus to one of the region’s fastest-growing and most diverse communities.
“More than 655,000 Asian residents call the Houston region their home, and this is a group growing in both size and diversity,” said Daniel Potter, co-director of the Kinder Institute’s Houston Population Research Center. “More Asian residents live in Fort Bend County today than lived in the entire state of Texas in 1980, yet there is often a lack of knowledge and understanding of the many different populations grouped under the label ‘Asian.’”
Explore the Study
Home Page
Individual and Household Characteristics
Political and Social Attitudes
Experiences with Discrimination
Creating Identity
Conducted as a multiyear, multilingual survey, the research draws on more than 2,100 respondents from seven major Asian ethnic groups, including Asian Indian, Chinese/Taiwanese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Pakistani, and Vietnamese, across four counties in the Houston metropolitan area.
Key findings reveal a community that is both vibrant and complex:
- Rapid growth: Houston’s Asian population has grown dramatically over the past four decades, increasing from under 2 % of the local population in the early 1980s to nearly 10 % today.
- Diverse socioeconomic experiences: While many Asian households report high incomes, there are significant variations in economic status across groups, pointing to diverse lived realities beneath aggregate figures.
- Identity and belonging: The study highlights how Asian Americans navigate identity in multifaceted ways, balancing heritage, family, cultural traditions, and a strong sense of being “American.” These negotiations often vary by generation and social context, underscoring the nuanced nature of identity formation.
Beyond demographics, the research explores social and political attitudes, experiences with discrimination, and how community members perceive their place in the broader civic and cultural landscape. Early findings show that roughly four in ten Asian residents reported experiences of discrimination in the past year, reaffirming the need for ongoing attention to equity and inclusion.
