What is the median household income of Indian Americans?

The latest figure

In the 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates, households headed by someone who identifies as Asian Indian alone had a median income of $165,721¹. Half of these households earned more and half earned less. The median for all US households in the same survey was $81,604².

Definitions matter here. If you widen the group to everyone who reports Asian Indian alone or in combination with another race or origin, a population of about 5.56 million, the median is $161,520¹. Pew Research Center, using a three-year (2021–23) sample of the same survey, reported a median of $151,200 for 2023⁵. All of these figures show the same thing: Indian American households have the highest median income of any major group in the country, as we explain in are Indian Americans the richest ethnic group.

What HeyAlbert data shows

How the figure has changed since 2019

Median household income, Asian Indian alone, ACS one-year estimates (current dollars of each year)^1,3,6:

Year	Asian Indian households	All US households
2019	$126,705	$65,712
2021	$141,906	$69,717
2022	$152,341	$74,755
2023	$157,005	$77,719
2024	$165,721	$81,604

These are not adjusted for inflation, and part of the increase reflects rising prices. The Census Bureau did not release standard 2020 one-year estimates because of pandemic disruption to data collection. Over the same period the Asian Indian alone population grew from about 4.24 million to about 5.09 million^1,3, so the median has risen even as large numbers of newer, often younger, arrivals joined the population.

Household, family and individual income

Household income adds up everyone living under one roof, so it is affected by how many earners a household has. Other measures help put the headline number in context¹:

• Median family income (households of related people): $194,613.
• Per capita income (total income divided by every resident, including children): $76,212, compared with $45,256 for the US as a whole².
• Median earnings, full-time year-round workers: $125,682 for men and $98,940 for women.
• Average household size: 2.85 people, compared with 2.50 nationally².

Married-couple households are common (69.7% of Asian Indian households, versus 46.7% nationally)^1,2, so many households have two earners. That is one of several factors we cover in why Indian Americans out-earn the average American.

Where the income comes from

Earnings from work drive most of the gap. In 2024, 72.7% of Asian Indians aged 16 and over were in the labor force, compared with 64.0% of all Americans^1,2. Among those employed, 75.7% worked in management, business, science and arts occupations, against 43.5% of all US workers^1,2.

By industry, the largest share of employed Asian Indians (27.3%) worked in professional, scientific, management and administrative services, a category that includes software, IT services and consulting. Another 22.7% worked in education, health care and social assistance, and 10.7% in finance, insurance and real estate¹. Those industries pay well, and many of these roles require advanced degrees, which links income closely to Indian American education levels.

Income by state

Income varies a great deal by place, mostly because of local job markets and living costs. Among the largest Asian Indian populations, ACS 2024 medians were⁴:

State	Asian Indian population	Asian Indian median household income	State median, all households
California	970,717	$212,558	$100,149
Texas	668,034	$167,991	$79,721
New Jersey	448,588	$188,317	$104,294
New York	380,742	$124,215	$85,820
Illinois	282,471	$142,116	$83,211
Washington	187,700	$230,380	$99,389

Washington and California, both centers of the tech industry, have the highest medians. For a fuller geographic view, see the states with the most Indian Americans and Indian American income by metro area.

Immigrant and US-born households

About 69% of Asian Indians in the US were born abroad¹. Pew found that households headed by an Indian immigrant had a higher median income ($156,000) than those headed by a US-born Indian American ($120,200) in 2023⁵. Much of that gap is about age: the median age of US-born Indian Americans was 13.4, so US-born household heads tend to be early in their careers⁵. We explore this in foreign-born versus US-born Indian Americans.

What the median does not tell you

A median is the midpoint, not the typical experience of every family. The Asian Indian poverty rate was 6.7% in 2024¹, and Pew's research shows income inequality among Indian American households has grown since 1980⁷. Income is also not the same as wealth, which builds over time through savings, home equity and investments; see what is known about Indian American net worth and how income is spread from top to bottom.