Asian Americans’ Earning Parity in the U.S. Labor Market

Kounian Ding

Advisor: Dae Young Kim, PhD, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Committee Members: Joseph Scimecca, Blake Silver

Horizon Hall, #6323
August 26, 2025, 02:00 PM to 03:30 PM

Abstract:

Asian Americans have emerged as the fastest-growing group in the United States over the past two decades, fueled by surging immigration and population growth. This dissertation analyzes 2022 ACS data to provide a comprehensive examination of socioeconomic attainments for Asian Americans and their six largest subgroups: Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Japanese. Using descriptive statistics and regression analysis, this study profiles these populations, identifies determinants of earnings, and applies a four-fold decomposition technique to disentangle differences in earnings outcomes between foreign-born Asian Americans and whites. 

The findings show that Asian Americans achieve the highest educational attainment levels among all racial groups, with 27.64% of advanced and 46% of bachelor’s degree holders concentrated in STEM fields. These educational advantages, coupled with overrepresentation (57.02%) in managerial and professional occupations and stable family structures, contribute to Asian Americans’ favorable earnings outcomes. Asian Americans report the highest mean ($81,197) and median ($53,000) annual earnings across all racial groups in 2022, though significant gender disparities persist, with females earning approximately 20.3% less than males after controlling for human capital, demographic, and geographic factors. However, the gender penalty is less severe among minority women than among white women.

Despite overall economic success, heterogeneity within Asian subgroups reveals substantial disparities. Indian Americans, particularly foreign-born men, demonstrate pronounced earnings advantages, with median annual earnings more than 2.8 times those of Vietnamese workers and twice more than white workers. Their success is tied to exceptional human capital attributes, including outstanding educational attainments, strong English proficiency, and a significant concentration in STEM and professional occupations. In contrast, Filipino and Vietnamese face notable earnings disadvantages, reflecting structural barriers that warrant further exploration. Disaggregated data highlights the outsized impact of recent Indian immigrants on foreign-born Asian men’s earnings premium, which shifts from a 4% premium to a 1.3% penalty when this subgroup is excluded.

Decomposition analysis reveals that foreign-born Asian men face significantly lower returns on foreign education and work experience although they have higher endowments on these characteristics, while Asian Americans’ clustering in economically vibrant Pacific regions and metropolitan areas bolsters their labor market outcomes. Demographic factors such as marital status, physical health, and parenting responsibilities also shape earnings disparities. Adjusted R² values suggest that human capital factors, such as education and work experience, together account for the majority of the variance in earnings.

This study reaffirms that Asian Americans, on average, do not face systemic labor market discrimination in the current U.S. labor market, after controlling for human capital, demographic, and geographic factors. This contrasts with the persistent earnings disparities experienced by Black and Hispanic workers. However, addressing intra-group disparities, particularly for Filipino and Vietnamese workers, requires policies that expand access to education and enhance English language proficiency.