Coverage & methodology
Coverage & methodology
What HeyAlbert covers, how fresh it is and where its limits are. Every HeyAlbert profile passes four levels of checks, from source capture to human sign-off by two editors. Every research article combines public sources, footnoted to the original, with aggregate findings from the HeyAlbert database, labeled as our own estimates.
Coverage at a glance
United States only. HeyAlbert covers Indian-origin individuals who live in the US. We do not cover the UK, the UAE, India or other markets.
Counts are people we have identified from public records as of October 2026, not a census of every wealthy Indian American household. Origin is inferred from names, so counts are approximate.
Wealth bands
Each person is placed in an estimated band. Bands are HeyAlbert judgments built from public filings and records, not reported net worth.
| Band | What it means | Individuals (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| $25M+ likely | Estimated at $25M or more, with higher confidence | 4,229 |
| $25M+ probable | Estimated at $25M or more, with lower confidence | 1,602 |
| Affluent, $5–15M | Estimated at roughly $5–15M | 18,882 |
| Weak / donor-only | Weaker or donor-only signals; no band assigned | 44,937 |
Every profile also carries a confidence grade (A, B or C) and, where a dossier exists, a net worth range with its basis and sources. See the data dictionary for every field.
Coverage by state and metro
Shares are among profiles where the state or metro is known. Groups under 10 people are suppressed.
By state
| State | $25M+ profiles n=5,004 | $5–15M profiles n=17,817 |
|---|---|---|
| California | 30.4% | 50.2% |
| New York | 14.4% | 9.9% |
| Texas | 14.4% | 5.9% |
| Florida | 6.7% | 3.9% |
| Washington | 5.2% | 6.2% |
| Massachusetts | 4.3% | 3.1% |
| New Jersey | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Illinois | 3.3% | 1.9% |
By metro area
| Metro area | $25M+ profiles n=3,328 | $5–15M profiles n=11,440 |
|---|---|---|
| SF Bay Area | 23.7% | 51.9% |
| New York metro (incl. northern NJ, Long Island, Westchester) | 15.6% | 12.7% |
| Texas, outside the 3 largest metros | 7.2% | <10 people |
| Los Angeles / Orange County | 6.2% | 6.2% |
| Dallas–Fort Worth | 5.7% | 2.2% |
| Seattle | 5.7% | 6.5% |
| South Florida | 5.0% | 1.7% |
| Houston | 3.7% | 1.4% |
Metros follow HeyAlbert's own regional definitions, which do not exactly match Census metropolitan areas. Source: HeyAlbert analysis of 5,831 Indian-origin individuals in the US we estimate at $25M+ and 18,882 at $5–15M, October 2026. Origin is inferred from names; wealth bands are HeyAlbert estimates built from public filings and records. Shares exclude unknowns, groups under 10 people are suppressed, and coverage varies by source, so treat figures as indicative rather than a census.
Freshness
Scheduled refresh jobs re-check public sources by type:
| Source type | Checked |
|---|---|
| SEC filings (Forms 3, 4, 5, 13D/G, 144, D) | Weekly |
| News | Weekly or more often |
| Federal political contribution records | Monthly |
| Nonprofit filings (IRS Form 990) | Monthly |
| Property values | Quarterly, as new records are loaded |
Each dossier shows its version and last-refreshed date, each fact keeps the date it was retrieved, and every change is recorded in the person's change log with its source. New items appear in the app's News view as they are found.
Human validation
How every profile is validated: 4 levels
Automated checks narrow the work; people make the call. A profile is marked Verified only after all four levels.
Level 1
Source capture
Every fact in a profile is tied to a public source URL. No source, no fact.
Level 2
Automated identity match
Name plus employer, city and role cross-checks. Generic matches are rejected; ambiguous same-name cases are flagged for review, never guessed.
Level 3
Editorial review
A HeyAlbert editor opens the source and confirms, corrects or removes each fact.
Level 4
Second-editor sign-off
A different editor approves before a profile is marked Verified. Every change is logged (who, when, what) and can be reverted.
Levels 1 and 2 run on every fact as it is collected. Levels 3 and 4 are human review: a fact that fails a check is corrected or removed, never guessed. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and an editor will review it.
Public sources
Figures such as income, population, education, business ownership, hotel ownership, physician counts, executive pay and rich-list rankings come from public sources: the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey and business surveys, Pew Research Center, the Migration Policy Institute, federal agencies, industry associations such as AAHOA, SEC filings, published rich lists and reputable news. Each figure carries a numbered footnote linking to the source, with the data year. Where we do our own arithmetic on a public figure, we say so.
The HeyAlbert database
Research articles report aggregate findings about the people we estimate at $25M+ and at $5–15M, as described under coverage above.
Limitations
- Origin is inferred from names. Name-based inference misses some people of Indian origin and includes some who are not, so counts are approximate.
- Wealth bands are estimates. They are HeyAlbert's judgments from public filings and records, not reported net worth. "Likely" and "probable" describe our confidence.
- Coverage varies by source. Some states, industries and kinds of records are better covered than others, so shares are indicative of the people we have identified, not a census of all wealthy Indian Americans.
- Unknowns are excluded. Shares by state, metro, industry or role are calculated among profiles where that field is known, and each table states the base.
- US only. We do not cover people outside the United States.
- Thin profiles stay thin. Where public sources are sparse, a profile says "not found" rather than filling the gap. Not every person has a full dossier.
- Small groups are suppressed. We do not report any group of fewer than 10 people.
- Aggregates only. Research articles never name, describe or locate any individual from the database, and never report data below the metro level.
Industry and role are derived from current company and title where known. "Metro" groups follow HeyAlbert's own regional definitions, such as a New York metro that includes northern New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester. These do not exactly match Census metropolitan areas.
How to use our findings
Use the public figures in each article as the authoritative measures, and HeyAlbert findings as a supplement that describes the top of the wealth distribution, which public surveys rarely capture. To work with the underlying profiles, see what HeyAlbert does and pricing, or contact us with questions and corrections.
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