By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – According to the latest American Community Survey figures released by the US Census Bureau on Friday the Indian American population in the US reached an estimated 5.41 million in 2025, an increase of more than 315,000 from the previous year.
India remained the second-largest source country for US immigrants after Mexico, while California and Texas together accounted for more than 1.7 million Asian Indian residents, it said.
The figures place Asian Indians ahead of Chinese Americans in the Census category that counts people identifying with a single Asian group.
They also underlined India’s importance as a source of immigration to the United States, with about 3.40 million US residents born in India.
The number of people identifying solely as Asian Indian climbed from approx 5.09 million in 2024 to 5.41 million in 2025, an increase of roughly 6.2 per cent.
The population estimate rises to 5.91 million when people identifying as Asian Indian alongside other racial or ethnic groups are included. That compares with 5.56 million in 2024.
The Census Bureau uses different measures to capture racial and ethnic identities.
The broader category includes people reporting multiple identities, while the narrower figure covers those identifying with the specified group alone.
Asian Indians were the largest individual Asian group under the narrower measure, compared with approximately 4.65 million Chinese Americans, excluding Taiwanese.
The order changes when multiple identities are included. Chinese Americans, excluding Taiwanese, numbered approximately 5.97 million, slightly above the corresponding Asian Indian figure of 5.91 million.
India ranked behind only Mexico among countries of birth for America’s immigrant population.
The number of India-born US residents rose from approximately 3.16 million in 2024 to 3.40 million in 2025.
Mexico accounted for the largest foreign-born group, with an estimated 10.61 million residents.
China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan, followed India with approx 2.40 million, while the Philippines accounted for 2.24 million.
The overall foreign-born population stood at approximately 50.41 million.
The figures also highlighted an important difference between ancestry and immigration. The Indian American population includes US-born residents of Indian descent, whereas the India-born category counts people based on their country of birth.
Two estimates measure different populations and cannot be used interchangeably.
California remained home to the largest Asian Indian population, at an estimated 1.02 million.
Texas ranked second with approximately 708,000, followed by New Jersey with 471,000, New York with 420,000, and Illinois with 288,000.
Florida occupied sixth place with approximately 239,000 residents.
These six states accounted for more than 3.1 million Asian Indian residents, indicated a substantial concentration of the community in a relatively small number of states.
The figures illustrate two aspects of the community’s demographic presence: an expanding Indian-origin population that includes people born in the United States, and a large India-born population within the country’s wider immigrant community.
The 2025 figures are survey estimates rather than a complete population count. The Census Bureau reported a margin of error of approximately 77,000 for the 5.41 million estimated.
The American Community Survey covers more than 40 subjects, including population characteristics, employment, education, income, housing and health insurance.
Its latest one-year estimates, released on October 29, cover geographic areas with populations of at least 65,000.
The Census Bureau is expected to announce release dates for additional 2025 survey products.
