20 February,2009 06:32 PM IST | | PTI
India-born American residents, numbering over 1.5 million, are the best educated among all the foreign born communities in the US and are also the highest earners in the country, latest census has revealed.
The median household income for US residents born in India is USD 91,195 against a USD 50,740 average for the total population, the data said.
Besides, the overall median household income for foreign-born and native US residents is USD 46,881 and USD 51,249 respectively.
Among all foreign-born residents, a massive 74 per cent of Indians have bachelor's or higher degree, as compared to a 27 per cent average for all foreign-born residents, the US Census Bureau has said drawing on data from the 2007 American Community Survey.
The data reveals that only 28 per cent of natives in America have bachelor's degrees. Overall, about 85 per cent of the total US population - 68 per cent of the foreign-born and 88 per cent of the native-born - are high school graduates.
Egypt and Nigeria have rates above 60 per cent while about 80 per cent of the US residents born in China are high school graduates.
Numerically, ethnic Indians with 1.5 million population rank fourth after Mexicans (11.7 million), Chinese (1.9 million) and the Philippines (1.7 million).
Salvador and Vietnam (both 1.1 million each), Korea (1 million) and Cuba, Canada and the Dominican Republic figure in top 10 countries.
There are 38.1 million foreign-born people living in the US as per the 2007 figures. The Census Bureau said Americans born in India have the highest percentage (69 per cent) of people working in management, professional and related occupations.
These occupations employ about 36 per cent of the native civilian-employed US population and 27 per cent of the total foreign-born, it said.
Those born in Jordan (40 per cent) and Bangladesh (36 per cent) are among the most likely to work in sales and office occupations, the statement said.
Among natives, 27 per cent work in sales and office occupations, compared with 18 per cent among the foreign-born population. While poverty is not an issue for Indian Americans, 51 per cent of those born in Somalia are afflicted by it.
About a quarter of the US population born in Iraq, the Dominican Republic, Jordan and Mexico are also living in poverty. These estimates are based on a nationwide sample of about 250,000 addresses per month, the Census Bureau said.
