TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A chart that went viral on social media this week shows that Taiwanese-Americans have the third-highest median household income of any ethnic group in the U.S.
On Wednesday (May 18), a chart titled "Median Household Income in the United States by Ethnic Group" quickly went viral when it was posted on Reddit's coolguides subreddit, where it garnered 40,100 upvotes. That same day, it also received nearly 400 upvotes in the Taiwan subreddit.
The chart drew attention in Taiwan because Taiwanese-Americans were listed at US$82,500 (NT$2.46 million) per household, placing them third among all ethnic groups in the U.S., trailing Filipino-Americas by only US$500. Indian-Americans took the top spot with a commanding lead of US$100,500 per household.
The bar graph was created in 2020 by India in Pixels (@indiainpixels) and is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau gathered from 2013-15 and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. In a report published by the latter in 2016, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) were found to have the highest median household income of all groups at US$74,000, with Taiwanese again coming in third place, four spots above Chinese-Americans who had an average income of US$69,000 and far higher than the national average of US$56,200.
The report attributed some of this higher income range to educational attainment. According to census data, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have the highest share of people aged 25 and older holding at least a college degree with 51% attaining a bachelor's degree or higher.
At the top of this group are Taiwanese-Americans with 74.5% having obtained a bachelor's degree or higher, while Indian-Americans come in a close second at 73.%. In comparison, the national average for the U.S. general population is 30.6%.
(@indiainpixels image)
