India: Indian Population in the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD Metropolitan Areas
Indian population in the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD metropolitan areas: There are approximately 117,300 Indian immigrants* living in the Washington, DC and Baltimore metro areas. The largest numbers of Indian immigrants live in Fairfax County, VA (32,500), Montgomery County, MD (25,000) and Loudoun County, VA (17,700). Among them, 51 percent are males and 49 percent are females. Fifty-five percent of Indian immigrants who live in the Washington, DC and Baltimore metro areas are naturalized U.S. citizens, compared to 49 percent for all other immigrants in the area. Eighty-two percent of Indian immigrants are proficient in English, which is 22 percentage points more than all other foreign-born individuals in the area.
Indian population in the United States: In recent decades, the number of foreign-born Indians in the United States has been increasing. In 1980, for example there were approximately 209,600 Indian immigrants in the United States. In 2010, this number increased to an estimated 1,796,467 and currently an estimated 2,440,578 foreign-born Indians live in the United States.
The percentage of foreign-born Indians in relation to the total foreign-born population in the United States also increased during recent years. In 1980, Indian immigrants constituted only 1 percent of the total immigrant population of the United States, whereas in 2010 they reached 5 percent. Today, Indian immigrants constitute 6 percent of the total foreign-born population of the United States.
Education, Income and Housing: Indian immigrants in the DC and Baltimore metro areas are distinguished by their high rates of educational attainment and income. In terms of educational attainment, 43 percent of Indian immigrants over 25 years old have a Master’s, professional or graduate degree, which is more than triple the percentage for the rest of the foreign-born population, and that of native-born U.S. citizens. Interestingly, 7 percent of the Indian immigrants living in the area have a doctoral degree in comparison to 4 percent of all other foreign-born individuals and 2 percent of the native-born population.
The median earned income of Indian immigrants in the areas ($92,735) is higher than the median earned income of all other immigrants ($44,556) and native-born U.S. citizens ($64,000).
Sixty-seven percent of Indian immigrants own or are in the process of buying a home. This is 13 percentage points higher than all other foreign-born populations and 2 percentage points higher than the U.S. native-born population.
Employment and Occupation: The largest proportions of Indian immigrants in the DC and Baltimore Metro areas are employed in computer and mathematical occupations (29 percent), in management, business and arts occupations (16 percent) and in healthcare and technical occupations (8 percent). Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations are the major occupational fields for Indian immigrants, as 41 percent of them are employed in STEM occupations. This percentage is considerably higher than the percentage for all other foreign-born groups (10 percent) and the U.S. native-born population (11 percent).
Indian immigrants also tend to be self-employed in their own incorporated businesses. In particular, 7 percent of them have their own incorporated business, whereas only 4 percent and 3 percent of all other foreign-born and native-born U.S. citizens are self-employed with their own incorporated businesses, respectively. The median income for self-employed Indian immigrants is $69,872, which is higher than the median income of all other self-employed immigrants ($39,493) and native-born U.S. citizens ($61,000).
* Please note that the terms “immigrant” and “foreign born” are used interchangeably throughout this fact sheet. Foreign born refers to individuals who are not a U.S. citizen at birth or who were born outside the U.S., Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories and whose parents are not U.S. citizens. The foreign born may include naturalized U.S. citizens, Legal Permanent Residents, temporary residents, refugees and asylees, and others. Additionally, native born includes those who are U.S. citizens at birth, those born in the United States, Puerto Rico, or other U.S. territories, and those born abroad to a parent who is a U.S. citizen.
