Indian-American wealth in Washington: the fastest-growing big community

Washington has about 172,800 residents of Asian Indian descent, up about 40% from the 2015–2019 survey, the fastest growth among the 15 states with the largest Indian-American communities [1][2]. Nearly all of that growth is in the Seattle area, and specifically on the Eastside around Microsoft's and Amazon's campuses.

Washington is also where our own data is deepest relative to population, which makes it a useful case study in what home equity alone says about a community's wealth.

• 172,827 residents of Asian Indian descent (alone or in combination) in Washington, 2020–2024 average [1], or 2.2% of the state's population [3] and 3.4% of the US total [1].
• +40.1% versus the 2015–2019 estimate of 123,379 [1][2] (our calculation).
• 13,855 people in the HeyAlbert database placed in Washington at an estimated $1M+, of whom 1,360 are in our $5M+ bands [8].

Where Washington's Indian-American residents live, by county

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey counts 172,827 people who report Asian Indian ancestry, alone or with another group, across Washington's 39 counties [1][4]. King County alone holds 70% of them, and the three largest counties together hold 91% [4] (our calculation).

County	2020–2024	2015–2019	Change	Share of county
King County	121,551	89,918	35%	5.3%
Snohomish County	30,502	17,937	70%	3.6%
Pierce County	5,265	3,724	41%	0.6%
Clark County	3,515	3,068	15%	0.7%
Whatcom County	2,992	2,374	26%	1.3%
Thurston County	1,500	1,348	11%	0.5%
Benton County	1,385	700	98%	0.7%
Spokane County	1,312	1,073	22%	0.2%
Kitsap County	989	605	63%	0.4%
Whitman County	590	649	-9%	1.3%

Asian Indian alone or in any combination. Sources: ACS 5-year estimates [4][5]; county totals from Table B01003 (2020–2024). Change and share are our calculations. Estimates carry margins of error; small counties move a lot between surveys.

King County holds about 121,500 people of Asian Indian descent, 70% of the state total, and Snohomish County another 30,500 [4]. Snohomish grew about 70% between the two survey periods and King about 35% [4][5]. Together the two counties hold nearly 88% of the state's community (our calculation from [4]). Mill Creek East, Redmond, Union Hill-Novelty Hill and Sammamish each report more than 18% of residents with Asian Indian ancestry [6][7].

The most concentrated communities

Raw counts favor big cities. Ranking places of 20,000+ residents by the share who report Asian Indian ancestry gives a different map [6][7]:

Place	Asian Indian residents	Total population	Share
Mill Creek East CDP	6,815	25,453	26.8%
Redmond	17,271	77,353	22.3%
Union Hill-Novelty Hill CDP	4,438	23,047	19.3%
Sammamish	12,122	66,463	18.2%
Bellevue	21,686	151,847	14.3%
Bothell West CDP	2,227	22,029	10.1%
Issaquah	3,845	39,591	9.7%
Bothell	3,897	49,610	7.9%

Places with 20,000+ residents and at least 1,000 Asian Indian residents. CDP = census-designated place. Sources: ACS 2020–2024 5-year, Tables B02018 and B01003 [6][7]; shares are our calculation.

What the HeyAlbert database shows in Washington

HeyAlbert builds profiles of Indian-American individuals with an estimated net worth of $1M or more from public records, and every estimate is tied to a cited source. Our database currently places 13,855 such people in Washington [8]. That is a count of people we have found and estimated, not a census of wealthy households: our coverage is partial and uneven, as the next section explains.

Estimated net-worth band	People in our database
$1M–5M	12,495
$5M–15M	1,100
$25M+ (probable)	53
$25M+ (likely)	207
Total, $1M+	13,855

Source: HeyAlbert database [8]. Bands are estimates from public evidence; “likely” and “probable” describe our confidence in the $25M+ tier. Cells under 25 are suppressed.

City	$1M+	of which $5M+	of which $25M+
Sammamish	2,362	79	<25
Bothell	2,246	<25	<25
Redmond	1,442	105	<25
Bellevue	1,410	395	65
Seattle	1,142	155	45
King County (city not recorded)	1,136	99	<25
Kirkland	938	149	<25
Issaquah	448	41	<25
Mercer Island	277	107	<25
Lynnwood	251	<25	<25
Snoqualmie	210	<25	<25
Snohomish	209	<25	<25

Source: HeyAlbert database [8]. Cities with 25+ people at $1M+ (31 in Washington); cells under 25 shown as <25. The city is where our sources place the person; for some records it is a workplace or filing address rather than a home.

Our database places 13,855 people in Washington at $1M+, the second-largest state count in our data after California [8]. Sammamish (2,362) and Bothell (2,246) lead, followed by Redmond, Bellevue and Seattle [8]. The upper tiers concentrate differently: Bellevue has 395 people in our $5M+ bands and 65 at $25M+, and Mercer Island has 107 at $5M+ out of 277 people in our set there [8]. Bothell, by contrast, has fewer than 25 at $5M+ [8].

Why our Washington count looks the way it does

Each estimate in our database rests on a primary piece of public evidence. The mix of that evidence differs a lot from state to state, depending on which records we have been able to process, and it shapes the counts above more than any real difference in wealth does [8].

Primary evidence for the estimate	People	Share
Home value (public assessor or listing records)	12,188	88%
Other public signals (executive roles, company filings, gifts, pay)	1,550	11%
Physician (licensed, specialty-based estimate)	117	1%

Source: HeyAlbert database [8], people at $1M+ in Washington. Categories under 25 not shown.

Home values are the evidence for about 88% of our Washington estimates, the highest share in this series [8]. King County's public assessment records are detailed and current, so we can see many households that crossed $1M through home values on the Eastside. That depth is why Washington's count is so large relative to its population, and why most of it sits in the $1M–5M band. Stock compensation, which is a big part of Eastside wealth, is mostly invisible in property records, so the upper bands here are probably undercounted.

Giving signals

264 of the 13,855 people in our Washington set (1.9%) have at least one public giving signal, such as a named gift on a donor roll or a role at a charity [8]. By cause, counting each person once per cause:

Cause area	People with a signal
Education	76
Human services	52
Community and ethnic organizations	48
Other causes	42
Health	38
Arts and culture	37

Source: HeyAlbert database [8]. Causes with fewer than 25 people not shown. A person can appear under more than one cause.

In Washington, education leads the giving categories in our data, ahead of human services and community organizations [8].

What it means if you work with these families

Washington's community is young, fast-growing and tech-heavy. For advisors, the key planning topics are equity compensation, concentration in a single employer's stock, and Washington's lack of a state income tax alongside its capital gains and estate taxes. Bellevue and Mercer Island are the established high-net-worth core; Sammamish, Redmond and Bothell are where many newer millionaires live.

Methodology

Census figures are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020–2024 and 2015–2019, Table B02018, using “Asian Indian, alone or in any combination,” which counts people who report Asian Indian ancestry together with another group as well as alone [1][2]. Total population comes from Table B01003 [3]. The Census Bureau changed how it codes detailed race responses in 2020, so part of the change between the two periods may reflect coding rather than migration. All estimates carry margins of error; differences of a few percent between small areas should not be over-read. Shares and growth rates are our calculations.

HeyAlbert counts are aggregates from our database as of October 2026 [8]. They include people we identified as likely of Indian origin with an estimated net worth of $1M or more, based on public records such as property assessments, professional licenses, patents, SEC filings and donor rolls. Coverage is partial: we have not found everyone, and what we have found depends on which public records exist and which we have processed in each state. These counts are not population totals and should not be read as the number of wealthy Indian-American households in Washington. Any cell under 25 is suppressed, and we publish aggregates only, never individual records.

Related research

• Why has the Seattle area become a center of Indian American tech wealth?
• How does equity compensation drive wealth for Indian American tech executives?
• Which US states have the largest and wealthiest Indian American populations?
• What is the average net worth of an Indian American household?

HeyAlbert finds Indian-American families worth $1M+ and tells you who to call, with every fact cited. See who is in Washington at heyalbert.site.

Sources

1. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018 (Asian alone or in any combination by selected groups), all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
2. ACS 2015–2019 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2019.B02018?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
3. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003 (total population), all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
4. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all counties. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=010XX00US$0500000 (data: machine-readable)
5. ACS 2015–2019 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all counties. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2019.B02018?g=010XX00US$0500000 (data: machine-readable)
6. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, places in Washington. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=040XX00US53$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
7. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003, places in Washington. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=040XX00US53$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
8. HeyAlbert database, aggregate counts (October 2026 snapshot); how we build it is described on our methodology page. HeyAlbert. https://heyalbert.site/research/methodology/