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Most Asian families are very good at taking care of each other. “It’s expected that we share expenses especially in a multigenerational home… This creates a financial burden on some, but it is also a cultural asset that is expected of us.”

–2nd generation multiracial Asian American

Despite having a combined Asian American purchasing power of $4 billion and more than 15,000 businesses, generalized data such as those highlighted below leads to systemic exclusion of the population, and often makes communities in need invisible.

Widely accepted aggregated data hides economic insecurity experienced by ethnic and sub-populations within Minnesota’s Asian population. For example, an estimated 37,000 Asian Minnesotan adults live under the poverty line (of which 29,000 are Southeast Asians).

In the 2014 State Demographer’s report on median household income, people in the category of ‘Asians’ had the highest household income of $67,900. However, when that data is disaggregated, the Hmong community, which makes up the largest ethnic group under the ‘Asian’ population, has a median income of $32,800, and 34% of Hmong children under the age of 18 years old live in poverty compared to 14% of all Minnesotans.


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Please contact Michelle Chang to learn more about our Economic Issues.