Demographics of Filipino Americans

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Map depicting Filipinos in the United States, according to the Census 2000.

The demographics of Filipino Americans describe a heterogeneous group of people in the United States who can trace their ancestry to the Philippines. As of the 2010 Census, there were 3.4 million Filipino Americans, including Multiracial Americans who were part Filipino, with the United States Department of State in 2011 estimating the population at 4 million. Filipino Americans constitute the second-largest population of Asian Americans, and the largest population of Overseas Filipinos.

Population concentrations

The following is a list of the states with significant Filipino American populations, at over 75,000 people of Filipino descent in 2010.

States	Filipino alone or in any combination
California	1,474,707
Hawaii	342,095
Illinois	139,090
Texas	137,713
Washington	137,083
New Jersey	126,793
New York	126,129
Nevada	123,891
Florida	122,691
Virginia	90,493
United States	3,416,840

Filipino Americans are the largest group of Asian Americans in 10 of the 13 western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, Wyoming; Filipino Americans are also the largest group of Asian Americans in South Dakota. Filipino immigrants have dispersed across the United States, gravitating toward economic and professional opportunities, independent of geographic location. Among the 1,814,000 Philippines-born Filipino Americans, the states with their largest concentrations were California (44.8 percent), Hawaii (6.2 percent), New Jersey (4.8 percent), Texas (4.8 percent), and Illinois (4.7 percent)._{Table 4.} In 2008, thirty-five percent of Filipino immigrants in the United States lived in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City metropolitan areas; by 2011, this percentage of the total Filipino immigrant population in the United States in those three metropolitan areas was thirty-three percent. In 2010, Filipino Americans constituted the largest Asian American group within five of the nation's twenty largest metropolitan areas: San Diego, Riverside, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Houston.

Greater Los Angeles

Greater Los Angeles is the metropolitan area home to the most Filipino Americans, with the population numbering around 606,657; Los Angeles County alone accounts for over 374,285 Filipinos, the most of any single county in the United States. Greater Los Angeles is also home to the largest number of Filipino immigrants (16 percent of the total Filipino immigrant population of the United States), as of 2011. Filipinos are the largest group of Asian Americans in the region. The City of Los Angeles designated a section of Westlake as Historic Filipinotown in 2002. Even though there is as many Filipino Americans residing within the district as there are Chinese Americans living in LA`s Chinatown (10,000) Historic Filipinotown is now largely populated by Hispanic and Latino Americans with most Filipinos who once resided in the area and the city in general having moved to the suburbs. In 2014, about a quarter of Historic Filipinotown's population is Filipino, however the population does not have a significant "visible cultural impact";. The San Gabriel Valley is home to a large population of Filipino Americans, particularly in the cities of West Covina, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights, and Chino Hills. Other large concentrations of Filipino Americans in Los Angeles County can be found in the South Bay area in the cities of Long Beach, and especially in Carson, which is home to numerous Filipino businesses and where "Larry Itliong Day" was dedicated, Panorama City, North Hills, and Arleta in the San Fernando Valley, and the Cerritos-Norwalk-La Palma area. The city of Glendale and Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles is home to a large Filipino community. The Westfield Eagle Rock Plaza Mall has a section with a number of Filipino businesses such as Seafood City, Jollibee, Leelin Bakery, Chow King, and Cebuana Lhullier alongside a Macy's and Target store. Orange County also has a sizable and growing Filipino population, whose population grew by 178 percent in the 1980s. Large populations in the county can be found in the cities of Buena Park, Anaheim, and Irvine

Historic Filipinotown sign.

Filipino pensionados began arriving to the region in 1903, including in Ventura County. In the 1920s, the area now known as Little Tokyo was known as Little Manila, which was where the first concentration of Filipino immigrants in Los Angeles lived. In 1937, the first Filipina American graduated from UCLA. In 1940, there were 4,503 Filipinos living in the City of Los Angeles. Little Manila extended to the Bunker Hill and Civic Center areas of Los Angeles, but were forced to relocate to the Temple-Beverly Corridor in the 1950s and 1960s, and has since been largely forgotten. In the 20th Century, Filipino Sailors with the United States Navy began to be stationed in Oxnard and Long Beach, developing military related Filipino enclaves; Long Beach community beginning in the 1940s, and the Oxnard community saw significant growth after the 1960s. According to the 1970 United States Census, the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area had the third largest Filipino American population in the United States at that time (32,018). In the 1980s, there were 219,653 Filipinos in Los Angeles County. In 1985, Helen Agcaoili Summers Brown opened the Pilipino American Reading Room and Library. In 1990, there were more Filipinos living in suburban Los Angeles (160,778), than in urban Los Angeles (135,336)._{Table 1b} In 1996, Filipinos were one in four of Asian Americans in Los Angeles.

San Francisco Bay Area

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Philippine actress Patricia Javier performing at Serramonte Center.

The 2010 Census showed that the greater San Francisco Bay Area was home to approximately 440,000 residents of Filipino descent, with the largest concentration living in Santa Clara County. The city of San Jose alone is home to about 60,000 Filipinos, and neighboring Milpitas also has a large population along with numerous Filipino businesses. Filipino Americans make up about a fourth of the total population of Vallejo, having been drawn there by agriculture and Mare Island Naval Shipyard. In 2007, there were about a hundred thousand Filipino Americans living in the East Bay alone. Santa Clara county continued to have the largest concentration in the area. In 2011, 9 percent of all Filipino immigrants to the United States reside in the San Francisco metropolitan area, and an additional 3 percent resided in the San Jose metropolitan area. Daly City, in the San Francisco Bay Area, has the highest concentration of Filipino Americans of any municipality in the United States; Filipino Americans comprise 35 percent of the city's population.

One of the earliest records of a Filipino settling in the San Francisco Bay Area occurred in the mid-19th Century, when a Filipino immigrant and his Miwok wife settled in Lairds Landing on Marin County coast; many Coast Miwok can trace their lineage to this couple. Significant migration began in the early 20th Century, including upper-class mestizo businessmen, mariners, and students (known as pensionados). Another group of Filipinos who immigrated to the Bay Area was war brides, many of whom married African-American "buffalo soldiers". Additionally, other immigrants came through the U.S. Military, some through the Presidio of San Francisco, and others as migrant workers on their way to points inland; many of these Filipinos would permanently settle down in the Bay Area, establishing "Manilatown" on Kearny Street (next to Chinatown). At its largest size, "Manilatown" was home to at least ten-thousand Filipinos, the last of whom were evicted in August 1977 from the International Hotel. After 1965, Filipinos from the Philippines began to immigrate to San Francisco, concentrating in the South of Market. In 1970, the San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area had the largest population of Filipinos of any metropolitan area in the continental United States at the time (44,326). Two other nearby metropolitan areas also had a population of Filipinos greater than five thousand in 1970, San Jose (6,768), and Salinas-Monterey (6,147). Due to a change in the ethnic make up of the Yerba Buena neighborhood, and with the construction of the Dimasalang House in 1979, four streets names were changed to honor notable Filipinos. By 1990, thirty percent of the population in South of Market was Filipino American.

San Diego County

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Filipino American U.S. Navy officers and warrant officers aboard the USS Comstock (LSD-45) at Naval Base San Diego.

San Diego has historically been a destination for Filipino immigrants, and has contributed to the growth of its population. The first documentation of Filipinos arriving in San Diego, while part of the United States, occurred in 1903 when Filipino students arrived at State Normal School; they were followed as early as 1908 by Filipino Sailors serving in the United States Navy. Due to discriminatory housing policies of the time, the majority of Filipinos in San Diego lived downtown, around Market Street, then known as "Skids Row". Prior to World War II, due to anti-miscegenation laws, multi-racial marriages with Hispanic and Latino women were common, particularly with Mexicans. In the 1940s and 1950s, Filipino Americans were the largest population of Asians within the city of San Diego, with a population around five hundred. After World War II, the majority of Filipino Americans in San Diego were associated with the U.S. Navy in one form or another, even in the late 1970s and early 1980s more than half of Filipino babies born in the greater San Diego area were born at Balboa Naval Hospital. In the 1970s, the typical Filipino family consisted of a husband whose employment was connected to the military, and a wife who was a nurse. Many Filipino American veterans, after completing active duty, would move out of San Diego, to the suburbs of Chula Vista and National City. In 1995, it was estimated that Filipinos made up between thirty-five and forty-five percent of the population of National City.

From a population of 799 in 1940, to 15,069 in 1970, by 1990 the Filipino American population in San Diego County increased to 95,945. In 2000, San Diego County had the second largest Filipino American population of any county in the nation, with over 145,000 Filipinos, alone or in combination; by the 2010 Census the population had grown to 182,248. In 1990 and 2000, San Diego was the only metropolitan area in the U.S. where Filipinos constitute the largest Asian American nationality, comprising more than half of all Asian Americans in the County. As of 2011, five percent of all Filipino immigrants in the United States call San Diego County home; by 2012, there was an estimated 94,000 Filipino immigrants living in San Diego. Filipinos concentrated in the South Bay, where they had been historically concentrated. More affluent Filipino Americans moved into the suburbs of North County, particularly Mira Mesa (sometimes referred to as "Manila Mesa"). A portion of California State Route 54 in San Diego is officially named the "Filipino-American Highway", in recognition of the Filipino American community. Although Filipinos first arrived in California the 16th century, the first documentation of a Filipino residing in California did not occur until 1781, a fifty-one-year-old Antonio Miranda Rodriguez. Initial part of the expedition that would established Pueblo de Los Ángeles, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez was not present when Pueblo de Los Ángeles was founded as he stayed behind in Baja California due to illness in his family, and arrived in Alta California later. In 1910, there were only five Filipinos in California; ten years later, in 1920, 2,674 Filipinos lived in California. In 1930, there were about thirty-five thousand Filipino agricultural laborers in California's Central Valley; that same year California was where the majority of Filipinos in the United States resided. Filipino laborers trended to live in better working conditions and earn more than their Mexican or Japanese counterparts.

History of Filipinos in California

Before World War II, Stockton had the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippine Islands, and during the harvest season, its Filipino population would swell to over ten thousand. By the end of World War II, the Filipino population in Stockton increased to over fifteen thousand. In the late 1950s, Filipino Americans in California were concentrated around Stockton, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles with migrant laborers being a significant part of the population. By 1970, the Filipino population in Stockton was less than five thousand, and the once vibrant Filipino community of "Little Manila" had been largely demolished except for a single block by 1999, largely due to construction of the "Crosstown Freeway".

In 1940, the population grew to 31,408, and continued to grow to 67,134 in 1960, and nearly doubling in 1970 to 135,248; by 1990, the population of Filipinos in California grew to almost three quarters of a million people (733,941). Since at least 1990, Filipino Americans have been the largest group of Asian Pacific Americans in the state. In 1990, more than half (52 percent) of all Filipino Americans lived in California. In 2000, almost half of all Filipino Americans in the United States lived in California (49.4 percent), with the Los Angeles County and San Diego County having the highest concentration of that population; additionally in 2000, California was home to nearly half (49 percent) of Filipino immigrants. In 2008, one out of every four Filipino Americans live in Southern California, numbering over 1 million.

The 2010 Census, confirmed that Filipino Americans had grown to become the largest Asian American population in the state, totaling 1,474,707 persons; 43 percent of all Filipino Americans live in California. Of these persons, 1,195,580 were not Multiracial Filipino Americans. As of 2011, California is home to 45 percent of all Filipino immigrants to the United States. In 2013, 22,797 Filipino immigrants seeking lawful permanent residence within the United States sought residence in the state of California, a change from 22,484 in 2012, 20,261 in 2011, and 24,082 in 2010. Twenty percent of registered nurses in 2013 in California were Filipino; according to the California Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles County has the largest concentration of Filipino American nurses, who are 27 percent of nurses in the county.

Hawaii

Main article: Filipinos in Hawaii

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Filipino Americans welcoming the commanding officer of the Philippine Navy's Gregoria del Pilar at Pearl Harbor.

From 1909 to 1934, Hawaiian sugar plantations recruited Filipinos, later known as sakadas; by 1932 Filipinos made up the majority of laborers on Hawaiian sugar plantations. In 1920, Filipinos were the fifth largest population by race in Hawaii, with 21,031 people. By 1930, the population of Filipinos in Hawaii nearly tripled to 63,052. As late as 1940, the population of Filipinos in the Territory of Hawaii outnumbered the population of Filipinos on the continental United States. In 1970, the Honolulu metropolitan area alone had a population of 66,653 Filipinos, the largest population of Filipinos in any metropolitan area in the United States at that time.

According to the 2000 Census, the state of Hawaii had a Filipino population of over 275,000, with over 191,000 living on the island of Oahu; of those 102,000 were immigrants. Furthermore, Filipinos make up the third largest ethnicity among Asian Pacific Americans, while making up the majorities of the populations of Kauai and Maui counties. In June 2002, representatives from the Arroyo Administration and local leaders presided over the grand opening and dedication of the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu, Hawaiʻi. In the 2010 census, Filipino Americans became the largest Asian ethnicity in Hawaii, partially due to the falling population of Japanese Americans in the state. In 2011, four percent of all Filipino immigrants in the United States resided in the Honolulu metro area, and were 43 percent of all immigrants in the Honolulu metro area as well; this population make up the majority of Filipino immigrants in Hawaii, who are 6 percent of all Filipino immigrants in the United States.

Illinois

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Filipino American musicians at Pin@yPalooza

Filipino migration to the Chicago area began in 1906 with the immigration of pensionados, consisting predominantly of men, with a significant number of them marrying non-Filipinos, mainly Eastern or Southern European women. At one point, 300 of these early Chicago Filipinos worked for the Pullman Company, and overall trended to be more educated than most men of their same age were. During the 1930s, they were predominantly in the Near South Side until the 1965 immigration reforms. In 1930, there were 1,796 Filipinos living in Chicago, a population that decreased to 1,740 in 1940; men outnumbered women 25:1 in 1940. In the 1960s, there were 3,587 Filipinos in Illinois, the population increased to 12,654 in 1970 and 43,889 in 1980, growing at a pace greater than the national average and made up largely of professionals and their families. By the 1970s, Filipinas outnumbered Filipinos, with 9,497 total Filipinos in the Chicago Area; the total population of Filipinos in Illinois was 12,654, of which 57 percent were college graduates. In 1990, Filipinos were the largest population of Asian Americans in Illinois, with a population of 64,224 in the state. Outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, there are fewer Filipinos. For instance in the state capital of Springfield, Illinois there were only 171 Filipinos in 2000.

In 2000, there were a total of 100,338 Filipino Americans living in Illinois, 95,928 of whom lived in the Chicago metropolitan area. In that same year, among ethnic groups in the Chicago metropolitan area, Filipinos had the highest proportion of foreign born. By the 2010 Census, 139,090 Filipino Americans and Multiracial Filipino Americans lived in Illinois, 131,388 lived within the Chicago metropolitan area; As of 2010, Filipinos are the second largest population of Asian Americans in Illinois after Indian Americans in 2010. In 2011, five percent (84,800) of all Filipino immigrants in the United States lived in Illinois, the majority of whom (78,400) lived in the Chicago metropolitan area. Although not as concentrated as other Asian American groups, they are the fourth-largest ethnicity currently immigrating to the Chicago metro area. In 2011, the Chicago metropolitan area was home to four percent of all Filipino immigrants in the United States. In the Chicago metropolitan area, a large concentration of Filipino Americans reside in the North and Northwest sides, often near hospitals.

Texas

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Tinikling dancers at the 2007 Texas State Fair

The first Filipino known by name in Texas was Francisco Flores, who came to Texas by way of Cuba in the nineteenth century began to reside in Port Isabel and would later call Rockport home. Following the annexation of the Philippines, Filipinos began to migrate to Texas due primarily as employees of American officers who served in the Philippines, with many settling around San Antonio; others would resettle in Texas after initially residing elsewhere in the United States. In 1910, there were six Filipinos living in Texas, by 1920 this number increased to 30, and by 1930, the Filipino population continued to grow to 288. With the disbandment of the Philippine Scouts, many who remained in the military came to call Fort Sam Houston home, along with Filipina War brides. After World War II, many Filipino professionals began to immigrate to Texas, with 2,000 Filipino nurses calling Houston home. In 1950, about 4,000 Filipino Americans were in Texas, with their number increasing to 75,226 by 2000.

As more Filipino Americans came to Texas, the center of their population shifted to Houston, which today has one of the largest Filipino populations in the South. With Texas being part of the Bible Belt it is often a popular destination for emigrating Filipino Protestants. In 2000, Texas was home to the seventh largest population of Filipino immigrants. According to the Census 2010, there are 137,713 Filipino Americans and Multiracial Filipino Americans in Texas. In 2011, five percent (86,400) of all Filipino immigrants in the United States lived in Texas.

Washington

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The Filipino Student Association at the University of Washington, 1952

The first Filipino documented in Washington dates back to 1888. In 1910, the population of Filipinos in Washington outnumbered the population of Filipinos in California by twelve. In 1920, there were almost a thousand (958) Filipinos in Washington. Pre-World War II, Washington had the second largest population of Filipino Americans in the mainland United States, with there being 3,480 in 1930; this population reduced to 2,200 by 1940. A significant population of these early Filipinos were migratory workers, working in canneries in Puget Sound, and harvesting crops in Yakima Valley.

In 1970, Filipino Americans were the fifth largest minority population, with 11,462 persons, after African-Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Native Americans, and Japanese Americans; they were 0.3 percent of the total population of Washington at the time, and 87.2 percent lived in urban areas. That same year, 1970, there were 7,668 Filipinos living in the Seattle-Everett metropolitan area. In 1990, Filipinos were the largest population of Asian Pacific Americans in Washington. As of the 2010 Census, Washington is home to the fifth largest Filipino American population of any single state in the nation. Six tenths of the Filipino Americans living in Washington have arrived since 1965.

New Jersey

Filipinos are the third largest group of Asian Americans in New Jersey after Indian Americans and Chinese Americans. In 2010, there were 110,650 single-race Filipino Americans living in New Jersey. In 2011, New Jersey was home to five percent (86,600) of the United States' Filipino immigrants. By 2013, an estimated 134,647 single- and multi-racial Filipino Americans were living in New Jersey. Bergen County, Hudson County, Middlesex County, and Passaic County (all in Northern and Central New Jersey) have the largest Filipino populations in the state, and are home to over half of all Filipinos who reside in New Jersey. In Bergen County in particular, Bergenfield, along with Paramus, Hackensack, New Milford, Dumont, Fair Lawn, and Teaneck have become growing hubs for Filipino Americans. Taken as a whole, these municipalities are home to a significant proportion of Bergen County's Philippine population. A census-estimated 20,859 single-race Filipino Americans resided in Bergen County as of 2013, embodying an increase from the 19,155 counted in 2010. Bergenfield has become known as Bergen County's Little Manila and hosts its annual Filipino American Festival. Within Bergen County, there are Filipino American organizations based in Paramus, Fair Lawn, and Bergenfield. In Hudson County, Jersey City is home to the largest Filipino population in New Jersey, with over 16,000 Filipinos in 2010, who account for seven percent of Jersey City's population; this is an increase from 11,677 Filipino Americans who lived in Jersey City in 1990. In the 1970s, due to Filipinos immigrating to Jersey City, the city named a street Manila Avenue.

New York

In 1970, there were 14,279 Filipinos in New York State. In 2004, 84 percent of Filipinos in New York had obtained a college education, compared to 43 percent of all Filipino Americans in the United States. In 2010, there were 104,287 single-race Filipino Americans living in New York State. In 2011, five percent (84,400) of all Filipino immigrants in the United States lived in New York. By 2013, there was estimated over 120,000 single- and multi-racial Filipino Americans were living in New York State.

New York City metropolitan area

Main article: Filipinos in the New York City metropolitan region

In the 1970s and 1980s, Filipinos in New York and New Jersey had a higher socioeconomic status than Filipinos elsewhere, as more than half of Filipino immigrants to the metropolitan area were healthcare professionals or other highly trained professionals, in contrast to established working-class Filipino American populations elsewhere. The high percentage of healthcare professionals continues, as in 2013, thirty percent of Filipinos were nurses or other professionals in the healthcare industry. In 1970, the New York metropolitan area had the largest concentration of Filipinos (12,455) east of the Rocky Mountains, and fifth largest population of Filipinos of all metropolitan areas in the United States. In 1990, more Filipinos lived in urban New York (60,376), than in suburban New York (44,203)._{Table 1a} In 2008, the New York tri-state metropolitan area was home to 215,000 Filipinos. In 2010, according to the 2010 United States Census, there were 217,349 Filipino Americans, including Multiracial Filipino Americans, living in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metropolitan area. In 2011, 8 percent of all Filipino immigrants in the United States lived in the New York City metropolitan region; by that year, New York City became a new destination for Filipino immigrants. In 2012, a Census-estimated 235,222 single-race and Multiracial Filipino Americans lived in the broader New York-Newark-Bridgeport, New York-New Jersey-Connecticut-Pennsylvania Combined Statistical Area. By 2013 Census estimates, the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania MSA was estimated to be home to 224,266 Filipino Americans, 88.5 percent (about 200,000) of them single-race Filipinos. In 2013, 4,098 Filipinos legally immigrated to the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA core-based statistical area; in 2012, this number was 4,879; 4,177 in 2011; 4,047 in 2010, 4,400 in 2009, and 5,985 in 2005. Little Manilas have emerged in the New York City metropolitan area, located in Woodside, Queens; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Bergenfield, New Jersey.

New York City

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Young Filipino Americans dressed as Katipuneros at the Philippine Independence Day Parade in Midtown Manhattan.

Filipinos have been residing in New York City as early as the 1920s. In 1960, there were only 2,744 Filipinos in New York City. In 1990, there were 43,229 Filipinos in New York City, with the number increasing to around 54,993 in 2000, making it the city with the fourth largest population of Filipino Americans within its city limits in 2000. A profile of New York City's Filipino American population, based on an analysis of 2000 and 1990 U.S. census data reported that Filipino New Yorkers surpassed city residents as a whole in income. New York City was home to an estimated 82,313 Filipinos in 2011, representing a 7.7 percent increase from the estimated 77,191 in 2008. The Filipino median household income in New York City was $81,929 in 2013, and 68 percent held a bachelor's degree or higher. The borough of Queens is home to the largest concentration of Filipinos within New York City, with about 38,000 Filipinos per the 2010 Census. In 2011, an estimated 56 percent of New York City's Filipino population, or about 46,000, lived in Queens. In 2014, Filipinos remained the fourth largest population of Asian Americans in New York City, behind Chinese, Indians, and Koreans. The annual Philippine Independence Day Parade is traditionally held on the first Sunday of June on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

Woodside, Queens is known for its concentration of Filipinos; of Woodside's 85,000 residents, about 13,000 are of Filipino background, comprising 15 percent of Woodside's population. Due to a significant concentration of Filipino businesses, the area has become known as Little Manila. Along the IRT Flushing Line (7 trains), known colloquially as the Orient Express, the 69th Street station serves as the gateway to Queens' largest Little Manila, the core of which spans Roosevelt Avenue between 63rd and 71st Streets. Filipinos are also concentrated in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in Queens. There are also smaller Filipino communities in Jamaica, Queens and parts of Brooklyn. The Benigno Aquino Triangle is located on Hillside Avenue in Hollis, Queens to commemorate the slain Filipino political leader and to recognize the large Filipino American population in the area.

Nevada

Five Filipinos were documented in Nevada in 1920, their population increased to 47 in 1930. According to the Center of Immigration Studies, the Filipino population in Nevada grew 77.8 percent from 7,339 in 1990, to 33,046 in 2000. In 2000, Nevada was home to 31,000, 2 percent, of all Filipino immigrants in the United States. Nevada's Filipino American population grew substantially from 2000 to 2010, with a 142 percent increase, leading to a 3.6 percent share of the state's total population in 2010. More than half of Asian Americans in Nevada in 2010 were Filipino, and are the largest group of Asian Americans in Nevada. In 2005, outside of Las Vegas Valley, the only other area in Nevada with a significant population of Filipinos was Washoe County. In 2012, about 124 thousand Filipinos live in Nevada, mostly in Las Vegas Valley; by 2015, the population of Filipinos in Nevada rose to more than 138 thousand.

The first known Filipinos to arrive in Clark County arrived from California during the Great Depression. Filipinos arriving in the mid-20th century settled primarily around Fifth and Sixth street, and an enclave remains in this area. Beginning in 1995, five to six thousand Filipinos from Hawaii began to migrate to Las Vegas. In 2005, Filipinos were the largest ethnic group of Asian Americans in Las Vegas. In 2013, according to the American Community Survey, 2011–2013, there were an estimated 114,989 Filipinos (+/-5,293), including Multiracial Filipinos, in Clark County; according to other sources, there were about 140 thousand Filipinos living in Las Vegas. According to The Star-Ledger in 2014, more than 90,000 Filipino nationals reside in the Las Vegas area.

Florida

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Filipino World War II veterans who fought at the Battle of Bataan in Jacksonville

In 1910, there was a single Filipino living in Florida, this population increased to 11 in 1920, and 46 in 1930. In 1990, Filipinos were the largest population of Asian Pacific Americans in the state, with the second largest population being Indian Americans. Florida is home to 122,691 Filipino Americans, according to the 2010 Census. As of 2013, Filipinos are the largest group of Asian Americans in Duval County, and third largest group of Asian Americans in Florida. The 2000 Census reported there were around 15,000 Filipino Americans living in the Jacksonville metropolitan area, though community leaders estimated the true number was closer to 25,000. Indeed, the 2010 Census found that community numbered at 25,033, about 20 percent of the state's Filipino Americans. Many of Jacksonville's Filipinos served in or otherwise had ties to, the United States Navy, which has two bases in Jacksonville. Two of Florida's other metropolitan areas also have substantial Filipino American communities: the Miami metropolitan area has 21,535, and the Tampa Bay Area has 18,724.

Virginia

The first year that Filipinos were documented in Virginia by the United States Census Bureau was in 1920, when 97 Filipinos were counted; by 1930, that population increased to 126. In 1970, there were 7,128 Filipinos living in Virginia, 5,449 of whom lived in the Norfolk-Portsmouth metropolitan area. By 1980, there were 18,901 Filipinos in Virginia, with significant concentrations in Norfolk, and Virginia Beach. In the following decade, by 1990, the Filipino population in the Hampton Roads area increased by 116.8 percent, increasing to 19,977 in the area alone. In 1990, Filipinos were the largest population of Asian Pacific Americans in Virginia, followed by Korean Americans.

In 2000, Virginia's Filipino population was 59,318. There were 90,493 Filipino Americans in Virginia as of 2010, 39,720 of whom lived in the Virginia part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Many Filipinos settled around the Hampton Roads region due to the United States Navy have recruited them in the Philippines, and settling around Oceana Naval Air Station. In 2007, Filipino Americans make up one quarter of all foreign-born residents of the area. In 2011, there were between seventeen and twenty-two thousand Filipino Americans living in Virginia Beach. Filipino immigrants among that population also are 1/5th of all immigrants living in Virginia Beach. A larger population of Filipino Americans, 40,292, reside in the Virginia part of the Washington metropolitan area, and are the largest population of Asian Americans in Prince George county.

Elsewhere

The first Filipino immigrated to Annapolis after the Spanish–American War when Filipinos served at the United States Naval Academy. These Filipino immigrants dealt with institutional racism and later established organizations to support their community, including the Filipino-American Friendly Association. According to the 2010 Census, there were 56,909 Filipino Americans who live in Maryland, where they made up the largest population of Asian Americans in Charles County. In the neighboring District of Columbia, there were 3,670 Filipino Americans in 2010, who made up 12.78 percent of the total Asian American population of the District.

Filipinos have been in Alaska as late as the 1700s and are the largest ethnicity of Asian Americans in the state. In 2014, Filipinos make up 52 percent of Alaska's Asian American population. During the early 20th Century, Alaska was the third leading population center of Filipinos in the United States, after Hawaii and California, many of whom worked seasonally in salmon canneries. The first efforts to recruit Filipinos to work in the canneries began in the 1910s. By 1920, there were 82 Filipinos in Alaska, with only one of them being a Filipina. In 1930, Filipinos, who were called "Alaskeros", made up 15 percent of the workers in the fisheries of Alaska; in the decade of the 1930s, Filipinos were two-thirds of all Asians in Alaska. In many of the canneries, Filipinos treated as "second class workers". According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 12,712 Filipino Americans in Alaska; By the 2010 U.S. Census that number increased to 25,424 (alone or in combination), constituting 49 percent of Asian Americans in Alaska. In 2011, more than one in four (26 percent) immigrants in Alaska was Filipinos. In Anchorage, as of 2014, Filipino Americans are the city's largest minority group.

In Utah, the population of Filipino Americans doubled between 2000 and 2010, to 6,467, having the third-highest rate of growth by state of Filipinos in the nation.

In the United States' insular areas in 1920, the Philippine Islands had the largest population of 10,207,696; Guam had 396; the Panama Canal Zone had 10, the Virgin Islands had 7, and there was a single Filipino in Puerto Rico. In 1930, the Filipino population in Puerto Rico increased to 6, the population in the Virgin Islands decreased to 4, the population in Guam decreased to 364, and the population in the Panama Canal Zone increased to 37. In 2000, there were 394 Filipinos in Puerto Rico. In 2010, of the 159,358 people on Guam, slightly more than one in four (26.3 percent) were Filipino; Filipinos are the largest demographic in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, making up 35 percent of the commonwealths 53,833 people in 2010. In American Samoa, there were 50 Filipinos in 1980, 415 in 1990, and 792 in 2000 in the territory; the population increased to 2.2 percent of the total population (1,217) in 2010. In 2013, there remains a Filipino American population in the Virgin Islands; these Filipinos make up a few of the 6,648 persons counted as "Other races" in the 2010 Census.

List of states, and other areas, by population below 75,000 in 2010
State	Filipino alone or in any combination
Maryland	56,909
Arizona	53,067
Guam	48,647
Pennsylvania	33,021
Michigan	32,324
North Carolina	29,314
Oregon	29,101
Georgia (U.S. state)	28,528
Ohio	27,661
Colorado	26,242
Alaska	25,424
Northern Mariana Islands	21,339
Massachusetts	18,673
Missouri	17,706
Indiana	16,988
Connecticut	16,402
Minnesota	15,660
South Carolina	15,228
Tennessee	14,409
Wisconsin	13,158
Oklahoma	10,850
Utah	10,657
Louisiana	10,243
Kansas	9,399
New Mexico	8,535
Kentucky	8,402
Alabama	8,224
Arkansas	6,396
Idaho	6,211
Iowa	6,026
Mississippi	5,638
Nebraska	4,900
Delaware	4,637
Rhode Island	4,117
District of Columbia	3,670
New Hampshire	3,069
West Virginia	3,059
Maine	2,918
Montana	2,829
South Dakota	1,864
North Dakota	1,704
Wyoming	1,657
American Samoa	1,217
Vermont	1,035
Puerto Rico	445

U.S. metropolitan areas with large Filipino American populations (2010)

Rank	City	Filipino American Population Size Alone or in Combination (2010 Census)	Total population	Percentage Filipino American
1	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metro Area	463,626	12,828,837	3.61
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area	287,879	4,335,391	6.64
3	Honolulu, HI Metro Area	234,894	953,207	24.64
4	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area	217,349	18,897,109	1.15
5	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA Metro Area	182,248	3,095,313	5.88
6	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI Metro Area	130,781	9,461,105	1.38
7	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area	117,928	4,224,851	2.79
8	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV Metro Area	108,141	1,951,269	5.54
9	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area	105,403	1,836,911	5.73
10	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area	97,867	3,439,809	2.84
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area	75,444	5,582,170	1.35
12	Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA Metro Area	73,866	2,149,127	3.43
13	Vallejo-Fairfield, CA Metro Area	52,641	413,344	12.73
14	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area	47,926	5,946,800	0.80
15	Stockton, CA Metro Area	46,447	685,306	6.77
16	Kahului-Wailuku, HI Micro Area	44,892	154,834	28.99
17	Hilo, HI Micro Area	40,878	185,079	22.08
18	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ Metro Area	39,913	4,192,887	0.95
19	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area	39,871	1,671,683	2.38
20	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area	33,206	6,371,773	0.52
21	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area	31,200	5,965,343	0.52
22	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area	25,103	823,318	3.04
23	Jacksonville, FL Metro Area	25,033	1,345,596	1.86
24	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area	23,864	2,226,009	1.07
25	Baltimore-Towson, MD Metro Area	22,418	2,710,489	0.82
26	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area	21,535	5,564,635	0.38
27	Kapaa, HI Micro Area	21,423	67,091	31.93
28	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metro Area	20,825	4,296,250	0.48
29	Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area	20,296	839,631	2.41
30	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area	18,724	2,783,243	0.67

Little Manilas

In areas of sparse Filipino population, they often form loosely-knit social organizations aimed at maintaining a "sense of family", which is a key feature of Filipino culture. These organizations generally arrange social events, especially of a charitable nature, and keep members up-to-date with local events. Organizations are often organized into regional associations. The associations are a small part of Filipino American life. Filipino Americans formed close-knit neighborhoods, notably in California and Hawaii. A few communities have "Little Manilas", civic and business districts tailored for the Filipino American community.

The first recorded presence of Filipinos in what is now the United States dates to October 1587, with the first permanent settlement of Filipinos in what is now the United States being established in Louisiana in 1763. Migration of significant numbers of Filipinos to the United States did not occur until the early 20th century, when the Philippines was an overseas territory of the United States. After World War II, and until 1965, migration of Filipinos to the United States was reduced limited to primarily military and medical connected immigration. Since 1965, due to changes in immigration policy, the population of Filipino Americans expanded significantly.

Filipino Americans can be found throughout the United States, especially in metropolitan areas. In California, Filipinos were initially concentrated in its Central Valley, especially in Stockton, but later shifted to Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. Other states with significant populations of Filipinos include Hawaii, Illinois, Texas, and Washington. New Jersey, and the New York Metropolitan area, also has a significant population of Filipinos. There are smaller populations of Filipino Americans elsewhere.

As a population, Filipino Americans are multilingual, with Tagalog being the largest non-English language being spoken. A majority of Filipino Americans are Christian, with smaller populations having other religious views. On average, Filipino Americans earn a higher average household income than the national average, and achieve a higher level of education than the national average.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1910	160	—
1920	5,603	+3401.9%
1930	45,208	+706.9%
1940	45,563	+0.8%
1950	61,636	+35.3%
1960	176,310	+186.1%
1970	343,060	+94.6%
1980	774,652	+125.8%
1990	1,406,770	+81.6%
2000	2,364,815	+68.1%
2010	3,416,840	+44.5%
2000 & 2010 figures include Multiracial Filipino Americans Source: Table 4

The Filipino American community is the second largest Asian American group in the United States with a population of over 3.4 million as of the 2010 US Census; making up 19.7 percent of Asian Americans; only Chinese Americans have a larger population among Asian Americans. Not including Multiracial Filipino Americans, the population of those responding as Filipino alone in the 2010 Census were 2,555,923; an increase of 38 percent in population from the 2000 Census. 69 percent of Filipino Americans were born outside of the United States, and 77 percent of all Filipino Americans are United States Citizens. Filipino Americans are the largest subgroup of Overseas Filipinos; as of 2011, there are 1,813,597 Philippines-born immigrants living in the United States, who are 4.5 percent of all immigrants in the United States, of which 65 percent have become naturalized U.S. citizens. In 2014, there was an estimated 1.23 million second generation Filipino Americans, who had a median age of 20, yet 3 percent were over the age of 64. Life expectancy for Filipino Americans is higher than the general population of the United States; however, survival rates of Filipino Americans diagnosed with cancer are lower than European Americans and African Americans.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the 2007 American Community Survey, identified approximately 3.1 million persons as "Filipino alone or in any combination". The census also found that about 80 percent of the Filipino American community are United States citizens. According to a study published in 2007, 11 percent of single-heritage Filipinos did not mark "Asian" as their race; this number was greater among multiracial Filipinos. Also in 2011, the U.S. State Department estimated the size of the Filipino American community at 4 million, or 1.5 percent of the United States population. There are no official records of Filipinos who hold dual citizenship; however, during the 2000 Census data indicated that Filipino Americans had the lowest percentage of non-citizens amongst Asian Americans, at 26 percent. Additionally, although historically there had been a larger number of Filipino American men than women, women represented 54 percent of the Filipino American adult population in the 2000 Census.

Filipino Americans are the largest group of Overseas Filipinos, and the majority were born outside of the United States; at the same time, more than 73 percent are United States Citizens. Among Asian Americans, Filipino Americans are the most integrated in the American society, who are described by University of California, Santa Barbara Professor Pei-te Lien as being "acculturated and economically incorporated". One in five is a Multiracial American. Multiple languages are spoken by Filipino Americans, and the majority are Roman Catholic. A U.S. Census Bureau survey done in 2004 found that Filipino Americans had the second highest median family income amongst Asian Americans, and had a high level of educational achievement.

Interracial marriage among Filipinos is common, as they have the largest number of interracial marriages among Asian immigrant groups in California, only Japanese Americans have a higher rate nationally. Compared to other Asian Americans, Filipinos Americans are more likely to have a Hispanic spouse. Statistically, Filipino American women are more likely to marry outside of their ethnicity (38.9 percent) than Filipino American men (17.6 percent); other Asian American populations have lower rates of marrying outside of their race than both Filipino American men and women. Between 2008 and 2010, 48 percent of Filipino American marriages were with non-Asians. It is also noted that 21.8 percent of Filipino Americans are multiracial, second among Asian Americans. Depending on their parentage, multiracial Filipino Americans may refer to themselves as Mestizo, Tsinoy, Blackapino, and Mexipino.

Historical settlement

See also: Immigration history

Early immigration

The earliest recorded presence of Filipinos in what is today the United States is when in October 1587 mariners under Spanish command landed in Morro Bay, California. The earliest permanent Filipino American residents arrived in the Americans in 1763, later creating settlements in the Mississippi River Delta such as Saint Malo, Manila Village in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, and four others in Plaquemines and Jefferson Parishes. These early settlements were composed of formerly pressed sailors escaping from duty aboard Spanish galleons and were "discovered" by a Harper's Weekly journalist in 1883. Furthermore, these settlements were the first longstanding Asian American settlements in the United States. The last of these, Manila Village, survived until 1965 when it was destroyed by Hurricane Betsy. An additional 2,000 were documented in New Orleans with their roots dating back to about a hundred years, with the first being Augustin Feliciano of Bicol; Others later came from Manila, Cavite, Ilocos, Camarines, Zamboanga, Zambales, Leyte, Samar, Antique, Bulacan, Bohol, Cagayan, and Surigao.

American period

File:Embassy of the Philippines - former location.JPG

Headquarters of the government in exile and temporary capital of the Commonwealth of the Philippines

Significant immigration to the United States began in the 1900s, after the Spanish–American War when the Philippines became an overseas territory of the United States, and the population became United States nationals. Unlike other Asians, who were unable to immigrate to the United States due to immigrations laws of the time, Filipinos, as U.S. nationals, were exempt. In December 1915, it was ruled that Filipinos were eligible for naturalization, and become citizens; however naturalization continued to remain difficult with documented cases of denied naturalization and de-naturalization occurring in the early 20th century. Filipinos, many agricultural laborers, settled primarily in the then Territory of Hawaii and California.

A smaller group of immigrants were sent on a scholarship program established by the Philippine Commission, and were collectively known as "pensionados"; the first batch of these pensionados were sent in 1903 and the scholarship program continued until World War II. These students were chosen from wealthy and elite Filipino families initially, but were later from a more diverse background; additionally other Filipino students came to the United States for education outside of the program, many of whom did not return to the Philippines.

During this wave of migration Filipino men outnumbered women by about 15 to 1; therefore, nuclear families were rare and an indication of privilege. This migration, known as the manong generation, was reduced to 50 persons a year following the Tydings–McDuffie Act which classified Filipinos as aliens, but was offset by the United States Navy's recruitment of Filipinos, that began in 1898 and authorized by President William McKinley in 1901, who were exempt from the aforementioned quota. By 1922, Filipinos were 5.7 percent of the United States Navy's enlisted personnel. In 1930, there were twenty-five thousand Filipino Americans in the United States Navy, primarily rated as stewards, having largely displaced African-Americans in that rating.

Post independence

The War Brides Act of 1945, and subsequent Alien Fiancées and Fiancés Act of 1946, allowed veterans, to return to the Philippines to bring back fiancées, wives, and children. In the years following the war, some sixteen thousand Filipinas entered the United States as war brides. That is not to say only women and children were beneficiaries of the acts for it was recorded that a lone Filipino groom immigrated during this period. These new immigrants enabled the formation of a second generation of Filipino Americans that grew the Filipino American communities, providing nuclear families. Immigration levels were impacted by the independence of the Philippines from the United States, that occurred on July 4, 1946. The quota of non-naval immigration increased slightly to 100 due to the passage of the Luce–Celler Act of 1946. Thus, Filipino American communities developed around United States Navy bases, whose impact can still be seen today. Filipino American communities were also settled near Army and Air Force bases. After World War II, until 1965, half of all Filipino immigrants to the United States were wives of U.S. servicemembers. In 1946, the Filipino Naturalization Act allowed for naturalization, and citizenship for Filipinos who had arrived before March 1943. Beginning in 1948, due to the U.S. Education Exchange Act, Filipino nurses began to immigrate to the United States, with 7,000 Filipino nurses coming to the United States in 1948.

Post 1965

Following the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the Philippines became the largest source of Asian immigration, providing one fourth of the total Asian immigrants. Into the 1990s, Filipino immigrants included many highly educated and higher skilled immigrants. A significant portion of these immigrants were in the medical field, due to medical personnel shortages in the United State such as in nursing, making the Philippines become the largest source of healthcare professionals to the United States. In the 1960s, nurses from the Philippines became the largest group of nurses immigrating to the United States, surpassing nurses immigrating to the United States from Canada. By the 1970s Filipinos made up 60 percent (9,158) of nurses immigrating to the United States, with Canadians being a distant second (3,034). By 2000, 1 in 10 Filipino Americans were employed in the nursing field, with there being an estimate of 100,000 Filipino American nurses. Another result of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was that family reunification-based immigration added to the total amount of Filipino immigrants resulting in two distinct economic groups within the Filipino American community.

Like other immigrant groups, Filipino immigrants clustered together both out of a sense of community and in response to prejudice against them. This created the first Little Manilas in urban areas. As time passed, immigration policies changed, and prejudice diminished, leading to a decline in the presence of Little Manilas. Between 1965 and 1985, more than 400,000 Filipinos immigrated to the United States. In 1970, immigrants made up more than half (53 percent) of all Filipino Americans. In 1980, Filipino Americans were the largest group of Asian Americans in the entire United States; half a million of the Filipino American population were Filipino immigrants, making up 3.6 percent of all immigrants in the United States, outnumbering United States-born Filipino Americans two to one. In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s more than half a million Filipinos obtained legal permanent resident status in the United States during each decade. In 1992, the U.S. Navy ended the Philippines Enlistment Program due to the end of the 1947 Military Bases Agreement; the program allowed about thirty-five thousand Filipinos to join the U.S. Navy, many of whom immigrated to the United States. Filipino Americans trended to settle in major metropolitan areas, and in the West. Filipino Americans had a tendency to settle in a more dispersed fashion, and to intermarry more than other Asian Americans.

Language

Filipino Americans form a multilingual community but the two most spoken languages are English and Tagalog. In 2009, Tagalog was the fourth most common non-English language spoken in the United States, with around 1.5 million speakers.

Religion

According to a Pew Research Center survey published in July 2012, the majority of Filipino American respondents are Roman Catholic (65 percent), followed by Protestant (21 percent), unaffiliated (8 percent), and Buddhist (1 percent). There are also smaller populations of Filipino American Muslims (particularly those who originate from the Southern Philippines).

Socioeconomic status

Economics

The Filipino-American community is largely middle and upper middle class; in 2014, eighteen percent of Filipino American households were in the top tenth of U.S. households in terms of income. By median household income, Filipinos rank as the third most rich ethnic group in the United States. The representation of Filipino Americans is high in health care. Other sectors of the economy where Filipino Americans have significant representation are in the public sector, and in the service sector. Compared to Asian American women in other ethnicities, and women in the United States in general, Filipina Americans are more likely to be part of the work force; a large population, nearly one fifth (18 percent), of Filipina Americans worked as registered nurses.

Median Household Income

Ethnicity	Household Income
	per 2004 survey datafig.13	per 2009 survey data
Indians	$68,771	$86,660
Filipinos	$65,700	$76,455
Chinese	$57,433	$68,613
Japanese	$53,763	$65,767
Vietnamese	$45,980	$54,799
Koreans	$43,195	$53,934
Total US Population	$44,684	$51,369

Among Overseas Filipinos, Filipino Americans are the largest senders of US dollars to the Philippines. In 2005, their combined dollar remittances reached a record-high of almost $6.5 billion. In 2006, Filipino Americans sent more than $8 billion, which represents 57 percent of the total amount received by the Philippines. By 2012, the amount sent back to the Philippines reached $10.6 billion, but made up only 43 percent of total remittances.

Filipino Americans owned a variety of different types of businesses, making up 10.5 percent of all Asian owned businesses in the United States in 2007. In 2002 according to the Survey of Business Owners, there were over 125,000 Filipino-owned businesses are Filipino-owned businesses; this increased by 30.4 percent to over 163,000 in 2007. In 2007, 25.4 percent of these businesses were in the retail industry, and 23 percent were in the health care and social assistance industry. In 2007, all Filipino-owned firms employed more than 142,000 people and generate almost $15.8 billion in revenue. Of those, in 2007, just under three thousand (1.8 percent of all Filipino-owned businesses) were million dollar or more businesses. California had the largest number of Filipino-owned businesses, with the Los Angeles metropolitan area having the largest number of any metropolitan area in the United States.

In 2010, Filipino Americans had an employment rate of 61.5 percent, and had an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. In 1990 and 2000, the decennial censuses found that, while lower than the national average, foreign-born Filipinos had a lower poverty rate than native-born Filipinos; by 2007, the situation had reversed, with foreign-born Filipinos having a higher poverty rate than native-born Filipinos. In 2012, Filipino American adults have a smaller percentage in poverty than the national average (6.2 percent verse 12.8 percent). At the point of retirement, a notable percentage of Filipino Americans return to the Philippines. In 1990, the elderly Filipino American poverty rate was 8 percent. In 1999 among elderly Filipino Americans, the poverty rate reduced to 6.3 percent; is lower than that of the total geriatric population (9.9 percent), and lowest among Asian Americans.

Education

The 1990 Census reports that Filipino Americans had the highest percentage of college educated of any Asian American population. Filipino Americans have some of the highest educational attainment rates in the United States with 47.9 percent of all Filipino Americans over the age of 25 having a bachelor's degree in 2004, which correlates with rates observed in other Asian American subgroups.^fig.11
In 2011, sixty-one percent of United States-born Filipino Americans had achieved an education level greater than a high school diploma. Post-1965 wave of Filipino professionals' immigration filling the education, healthcare, and information technology shortages in the United States also accounts for the high educational attainment rates.

Educational Attainment: 2004 (Percent of Population 25 and Older)^fig.11

Ethnicity	High School Graduation Rate	Bachelor's Degree or More
Asian Indians	90.2%	67.9%
Filipinos	90.8%	47.9%
Chinese	80.8%	50.2%
Japanese	93.4%	43.7%
Koreans	90.2%	50.8%
Total US Population	83.9%	27.0%

Due to the strong American influence in the Philippine education system, first generation Filipino immigrants are also at advantage in gaining professional licensure in the United States. According to a study conducted by the American Medical Association, Philippine-trained physicians comprise the second largest group of foreign-trained physicians in the United States (20,861 or 8.7 percent of all practicing international medical graduates in the U.S.). Other physicians, in order to immigrate from the Philippines, re-licensed as nurses. In addition, Filipino American dentists who have received training in the Philippines comprise the second largest group of foreign-trained dentists in the United States. An article from the Journal of American Dental Association asserts that 11 percent of all foreign-trained dentists licensed in the U.S. are from the Philippines; India is ranked first with 25.8 percent of all foreign dentists.

The significant drop in the percentage of Filipino nurses from the 1980s to 2000 is due to the increase in the number of countries recruiting Filipino nurses (European Union, the Middle East, Japan), as well as the increase in number of countries sending nurses to the United States. Even with the significant drop, in 2005 Filipino American nurses made up 3.7 percent of the total United States nursing population, and were 40 percent of all foreign-trained nurses in the United States.

American schools have also hired, and sponsored the immigration of, Filipino teachers and instructors. Some of these teachers were forced into labor outside of the field of education, and mistreated by their recruiters.

See also

• Demographics of Asian Americans
• Filipinos in Hawaii
• Filipinos in the New York City metropolitan region
• History of Filipino Americans
• List of Filipino Americans