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“Texas is a great place for Asians to start a business or make an EB-5 investment to gain a “Green Card” for you and your family,” according to Tao Tong, a CPA in MFR’s tax department.
For more information, Tao can be reached via email or at 713.622.1120.
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Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States. The state has an estimated population of 25.1 million in 2010, an increase of over 16% since the year 2000.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial and ethnic composition of Texas is diverse:
- White: 70.4% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 45.3%)
- Black or African American: 11.8%
- Native American: 0.7%
- Asian: 3.8%
- Pacific Islander: 0.1%
- Some other race: 10.5%
- Two or more races: 2.7%
- Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 37.6%
These figures come as a surprise to many who have not visited Texas.
The foreign-born share of Texas’s population increased from 9.0% in 1990, to 13.9% in 2000, to almost 16.0% in 2009, The Asian share of the population grew from 1.8% in 1990, to 2.7% in 2000,
Asian Americans in Texas
Asian Americans are a sizable minority group in Texas. Altogether, they number over 808,000. Just over 200,000 Indians make Texas their home. Texas is also home to over 187,000 Vietnamese and 136,000 Chinese. In addition to 92,000 Filipinos and 62,000 Koreans, there are 18,000 Japanese Americans living in the state. Over 111,000 people are of other Asian ancestry groups, such as Cambodian, Thai, and Hmong. The number of Asian Indians has surpassed that of Vietnamese, who have comprised the largest share of Asians in Texas since the end of the Vietnam War.
Looking at Asian population in various Texas cities shows a high of 21.8% density in Sugar Land (ranked 128th nationally) and a 6.09% density in Houston proper. Interestingly, sizable Asian communities can be found throughout the state, not just in the major cities and their suburbs.
According to Tong, “Today's Asian immigrants, including those from India and China, generally come for education or work, or both. Many businesses in the state require professionals with a high degree of education, so it's a natural fit for South Asians. Others are entrepreneurs who want to expand their business in Texas or opt to start a new business.”
Asian Business Power in Texas
Asian buying power in Texas totaled $33.5 billion—an increase of 626.8% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $20.7 billion and employed 176,571 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. Immigrants comprised 20.4% of the state’s workforce in 2008 (or 2,482,924 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Immigrants accounted for 21% of total economic output in the Houston metropolitan area and 16% of economic output in the Dallas metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute.
Educational Opportunities for Asians
In November, the Institute of International Education announced that there were now almost 130,000 Chinese students studying on American campuses, making them the largest international contingent. Beijing supports this trend because the Chinese economy is in desperate need of globally educated Chinese.
NAFSA estimates that foreign students and their dependents contributed approximately $17.6 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2008-2009 academic year. Texas’s 58,188 foreign students contributed $1.2 billion to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to a study by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which details the foreign student population school by school. It is not a surpisel that the Asian Business Students Association (ABSA) with more than 300 members is the largest organization in the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business. |
