Chinese Americans:
A Survey Data Snapshot
These data snapshots are drawn from Pew Research Center’s in-depth research portfolio on Asian Americans. To learn more, visit our Asian Americans topic page. For our latest demographic data on Chinese Americans, visit “Facts about Chinese in the U.S.”
简体中文/ Simplified Chinese | 繁体中文/ Traditional Chinese | 繁体中文/ Taiwanese
About 4.7 million Chinese Americans lived in the United States as of 2022, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. They account for 19% of the nation’s total Asian American population.
Six-in-ten Chinese Americans are immigrants, while four-in-ten are U.S. born. Two states – California and New York – are home to about half of all Chinese Americans.
The median income among Chinese American households was $98,400 in 2022, meaning that half of households headed by a Chinese American person earned more than that and half earned less. This is similar to the median household income among Asian Americans overall that year ($100,000).
Here’s a closer look at Chinese Americans’ attitudes on a range of topics, including how they describe their own identities, how they view the U.S. and China, and how they feel about achieving the American dream.
These findings are based on a nationally representative Pew Research Center survey of 7,006 Asian adults in the U.S. – including 1,617 Chinese American adults – conducted in 2022 and 2023.
Identity
Chinese Americans describe their identity in many ways, as is the case among Asian Americans overall. About half of Chinese Americans (53%) say they most often describe themselves as “Chinese” or “Chinese American.” About a third (34%) typically describe themselves as “Asian American” or “Asian,” while 8% call themselves “American.”
Some Chinese Americans say they’ve hidden a part of their heritage – such as cultural or religious practices – from people who are not Asian. In our survey, 19% say they have done this.
Views of the U.S. and China
Chinese Americans have a broadly positive opinion of the U.S.: 72% see the U.S. very or somewhat favorably.
By comparison, just 41% of Chinese Americans see China favorably. In fact, Chinese Americans are the only major Asian origin group in the U.S. in which a majority of adults do not have a favorable opinion of their own ancestral homeland.
Most Chinese Americans say they would not move to China; just 16% say they would. Among those who would move to China, 27% say the main reason is to be closer to their friends or family and 24% say it’s because they’re more familiar with the culture.
Achieving the American dream
Most Chinese Americans feel that they’re on their way to achieving the American dream or have already achieved it. Around half (51%) say they’re on their way, while a quarter say they’ve already achieved it. However, 23% of Chinese Americans say the American dream is out of reach for them.
Politics
A majority of Chinese American registered voters (56%) identify with or lean to the Democratic Party. Another 39% are Republicans or lean Republican. By comparison, among Asian American registered voters overall, 62% are Democratic or Democratic-leaning and 34% are Republican or lean to the GOP.
As of 2022, about 2.7 million Chinese Americans – or 58% – were eligible to vote, according to Census Bureau data. That means they were at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen through birth or naturalization.
Religion
Chinese Americans are among the most likely Asian origin groups to be religiously unaffiliated. More than half of Chinese Americans (57%) are not affiliated with any religion, compared with 32% of Asian Americans overall.
Another 22% of Chinese Americans identify as Christian, including 12% who identify as evangelical Protestants and 5% who are nonevangelical Protestants.
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
This analysis is one in a seven-part series that explores the identities, views, attitudes and experiences of Asian Americans, including the six largest Asian origin groups in the U.S. In these analyses, Asian Americans include those who identify as Asian, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic ethnicity.
The six Asian origin groups highlighted in this series – Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese Americans – include those who identify with one Asian origin only, either alone or in combination with a non-Asian race or ethnicity. In this series, Chinese adults do not include those who self-identify as Taiwanese. Other Pew Research Center analyses exploring the attitudes and characteristics of Asian origin groups may use different definitions and therefore may not be directly comparable.
This analysis is based on two data sources. The first is Pew Research Center’s 2022-23 survey of Asian American adults, conducted from July 2022 to January 2023 in six languages among 7,006 respondents. The Center recruited a large sample to examine the diversity of the U.S. Asian population, with oversamples of the Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese populations. These are the five largest origin groups among Asian Americans. The survey also includes a large enough sample of self-identified Japanese adults to make certain findings about them reportable. For more details, read the methodology.
The second data source is the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) provided through Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) from the University of Minnesota.
Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. The Center’s Asian American portfolio was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from The Asian American Foundation; Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Henry Luce Foundation; the Doris Duke Foundation; The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Long Family Foundation; Lu-Hebert Fund; Gee Family Foundation; Joseph Cotchett; the Julian Abdey and Sabrina Moyle Charitable Fund; and Nanci Nishimura.
We would also like to thank the Leaders Forum for its thoughtful leadership and valuable assistance in helping make this survey possible.
The strategic communications campaign used to promote the research was made possible with generous support from the Doris Duke Foundation.