AAPI individuals lead in asset ownership and income

A recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, published right after Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, sheds fresh insight into the financial position of the AAPI community in the US.

The report, titled “Understanding the Financial Wellbeing of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community,” evaluates income levels and asset ownership within the demographic, shedding light on their financial status relative to other racial groups.

Drawing on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Survey of Income and Program Participation, the analysis compared five racial groups: White alone, Black alone, Asian alone and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone (AAPI), American Indian or Alaska Native alone, and those identifying with more than one race.

Looking at the groups through several lenses, including work arrangement, English proficiency, US nativity status, and metropolitan status, the report found the AAPI segments leads on several financial fronts.

Possibly influenced by their generally prudent savings habits, the AAPI cohort exhibited the highest ownership rates of stocks or bonds, retirement assets, and checking accounts. More than a third of the AAPI group (35 percent) owned stocks or bonds, compared to one in four (23 percent) among the “White alone” group.

The data also showed a racial income gap: individuals in the AAPI group stood head and shoulders above other cohorts, with a median income of $55,342. That’s 21 percent higher than the overall median income of $45,784, and well above the median income of $45,784 for the White alone group, and $37,920 for those identifying as Black alone.

According to EBRI, the trend of higher ownership rates and income levels among AAPI members stuck even when accounting for metropolitan status, educational attainment, work arrangement, English proficiency, and US nativity status.

Nearly all AAPI group members reported living in metropolitan areas (98 percent), and the group had the highest rates of individuals with bachelor’s degrees or advanced degrees. The group also had a higher share of employed rather than self-employed individuals.

Aside from being less likely to be US-born, AAPI members were less likely to speak English alone. That last data point, coupled with the findings on investment ownership, flies in the face of past research, according to EBRI Wealth Benefits Research Associate Samita Thephasit.

“Previous research has shown that individuals who only speak English generally have higher asset ownership rates than those who speak other languages,” she explained in a statement.

There are deeper levels to the link between AAPI’s English fluency and their financial standing, Thephasit said. Those who were proficient in English had the highest median earned income and the highest ownership rates for stocks, bonds, and retirement assets, as well as the second highest rate of primary homeownership.

“It is worth noting that the AAPI community is not a single, homogeneous group,” Thephasit emphasized. “Despite their overall success in achieving financial wellbeing, those identified as Asian alone have higher median income and asset ownership rates than those identified as Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, whose median income and asset ownership rates are lower than the national figures.”