Chinese Immigrants in the United States

In 2021, the Chinese immigrant population was 2.4 million. That year, their numbers fell for the first time following a long period of growth due to the COVID-19 restrictions. After Mexico and India, Chinese immigrants constitute the third largest share of the U.S. foreign-born population at 5 percent. China is also the largest source of foreign-born students in the U.S., and has the second largest share of H-1B temporary visa recipients. Areas where Chinese immigrants are highly concentrated include California (32 percent) and New York (19 percent). Chinese immigrants tend to have significantly higher levels of education than both the foreign- and U.S.-born populations; 52 percent had at least a bachelor’s degree (compared to 34 percent of the overall immigrant population), 30 percent had a graduate or professional degree (compared to 15 percent overall) and 62 percent who arrived between 2017 and 2021 had a college degree. In the labor force, 60 percent of Chinese immigrants worked in management, business, science or arts (compared to 37 percent of immigrants overall). This translates to higher median household incomes for Chinese immigrants at $78,000 (compared to $70,000 overall). (The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)

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