CENTRAL TEXAS ASIAN IMPACT PROJECT
The goal of the Central Texas Asian Impact Project is to provide the most comprehensive set of actionable demographic and business insights on the Asian population here in the Greater Austin region.
Did you know that in each of the counties in the five county Greater Austin area, Asians are the fastest or second-fastest-growing ethnic group? The social and economic impact of Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in Central Texas is undeniable. These diverse communities add talent, buying power, and dynamic cultural impact to our region, and as we will explore, this impact is just beginning.
But who are they? A lack of current data and rigorous analysis of Central Texas’ AAPI populations can make it difficult for AAPI communities – like other communities of color – to receive the awareness and policy support needed to promote and achieve economic equity. Without a more complete understanding of the composition, geographic distribution, or ethnic makeup of these communities, it is difficult to effectively engage and fully include them in Central Texas’ civic and economic growth.
The Central Texas Asian Impact Project aims to address this gap by exploring and sharing the most comprehensive set of actionable demographic and business insights on the Asian population here in the Greater Austin region. The first phase of this multi-phase effort will roll out between May and December, 2023 with multiple reports, surveys, and interactive data dashboards being made available to the public.
If you are Asian or of Asian descent and live in Central Texas, complete our 5-minute survey and enter our contest to win fantastic prizes like event tickets, stays, meals, or a new Apple iPad Pro. We’re adding new prizes to the contest all the time!
Prize winners will be drawn and notified on Monday, March 31, 2025.
Impact Project Overview
Austin is now firmly established as a destination city for Asian households from a wide variety of national backgrounds and ethnicities. Central Texas is poised for continued growth as a vibrant, thriving, and diverse region as the Asian community exerts substantial economic and cultural energy into the community.
GROWTH
Asians are the fastest-growing racial group in the Greater Austin region.
The total Asian population in Greater Austin has doubled between 2010 and 2021.
(≈82,000 ≈160,000)
DIVERSITY
Austin’s Asian community is highly diverse with significant populations coming from Indians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans and Filipinos, among others.
Greater Austin has seen a significant influx of foreign-born Asians in the past decade.
IMPACT
Asians are the most highly educated and high-earning population group in Central Texas; typically working in business, management, and science professions.
Asians are a key contributor to Austin’s burgeoning knowledge economy and ability to compete with other cities and metros for jobs and talent.
A MULTI-PHASE EFFORT
The Central Texas Asian Impact Project began in Fall, 2022 when an ad-hoc team of data scientists and analysts from Accenture’s Austin office joined efforts with the staff of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce to begin exploring current data pertaining to the AAPI population in Central Texas.
Since then, the project has gained the interest of other Austin-area stakeholders, creating the beginnings of an “Ecosystem of Knowledge” which will facilitate future research efforts with deeper focus and broader-reaching scope.
Phase 1 concluded in September, 2023 with the release of interactive dashboards to facilitate public engagement with the data. We thank our talented partners from Accenture‘s Austin office (see below) for their incredible work on this initial phase of the project.
Phase 2, also released in September, 2023, provides in-depth analysis of the Central Texas AAPI population in terms of business and economic impact. Thanks go out to AngelouEconomics for their expertise and generous work in developing this report.
In Phase 3, the project will leverage a large-scale community survey to better determine and express the opportunities, challenges, and needs of the Greater Austin AAPI business community. Along with their work on Phase 2 of the Impoact Project, AngelouEconomics also designed this community survey.
In Phase 4, targeted for launch in early 2024, the project collaborative will continue research and update findings with the goal of expanding the project scope.
Future research will also include deeper analyses of those areas of Central Texas, such as Austin’s District 4, where new Asian immigrants and refugees have recently arrived and are living. This focus will help to ensure that a more complete, nuanced, and accurate picture of the needs of Asian communities can be established in contrast to our understandings of the region’s more established and affluent AAPI populations. These needs include areas such as education support, ESL classes, healthcare, transportation, electronic connectivity (cell phone and broadband access), and legal services. This is particularly important since, during the 2020 census, some areas of the city were incompletely canvassed due to the onset of COVID-19.
Austin's Asian Demographic Impact
PHASE 1 FINDINGS & REPORTS
Phase 1 of the Central Texas Asian Impact Project, with a focus on the demographics of Austin’s Asian communities, completed primary work in September, 2023.
Thanks go out to the talented team from Accenture‘s Austin office who prepared the bulk of this work and to City of Austin Demographer Dr. Lila Valencia and AngelouEconomics Executive Vice President & Director of Research Dr. Matt Patton for their insightful guidance.
Read below for more information on the Accenture team and our other dedicated Knowledge Partners.
Additional reports developed by the Accenture team will be released throughout the Fall and Winter of 2023. If you would like to receive notice when we publish new reports, please subscribe to our email list HERE.
REPORT #1
Who are the Asians in Austin?
A few examples of takeaways from this report include:
- Growth between Asian Ethnic Groups is not homogeneous: Asian Indians, for example, added over 22,000 people to Central Texas from 2015 to 2021, more than 5 times that of any other Asian Ethnic Group.
- Growth among Indians is concentrated in Williamson County (Round Rock, Cedar Park). These zip codes saw the Indian population more than double between 2015 and 2021.
- A smaller Asian ethnic group, Nepalese, saw over 350% growth in Central Texas between 2015 and 2021.
- What other insights can you gain from this report? Explore it now.
REPORT #2
Where are the Asians in Austin?
A few examples of takeaways from this report include:
- Asians in Central Texas are highly concentrated in areas of Northwest Austin, Round Rock, and Pflugerville.
- In fact, the zip code 78717 (Brushy Creek) is 29% Asian.
- What other insights can you gain from this report? Explore it now.
REPORT #3
How Educated are the Asians in Austin?
A few examples of takeaways from this report include:
- Among all people living in Central Texas, Asians have the highest bachelor’s degree attainment rates (74% overall, 17% higher than the next group).
- Asians in Central Texas have largest gap between males and females with a bachelor’s degree (males have an 8% higher rate).
- The Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander group has the highest combined bachelor’s and associate’s degree attainment rates for males (95%). There is also a significant gap between the combined bachelor’s and associate’s degree attainment rates for males and females (males have 23% higher rate) among this population.
- What other insights can you gain from this report? Explore it now.
REPORT #4
How Wealthy are the Asians in Austin?
A few examples of takeaways from this report include:
- 36% of Asians in Central Texas earn more than $150,000 per year, making Asians the race group with the highest percentage of high earners.
- The next highest group is Non-Hispanic Whites with 28% earning over $150,000 annually.
- Asians in Central Texas have an estimated combined household income of $8.4 billion, the third highest combined household income of all race groups.
- What other insights can you gain from this report? Explore it now.
THE ACCENTURE TEAM
Thanks to the dedicated team from Accenture for working the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce and our Knowledge Partners to develop and launch Phase 1 of this initiative. Without these talented analysts and data scientists, this work would not be possible.
Rachel
Scott
Data and AI Strategy Manager
Kenneth
Yu
Managing Director
Kyra
Masters
Data Science Manager
Inaara
Ali
Data & AI Consulting Analyst
Alexis Saunders
Data & AI Value Strategy Manager
David Chaidez
Application Development Analyst
Elias
Edame
Data Engineer
Senmu
Xue
Data & Analytics Senior Analyst
Nisha
Joseph
Management Consulting Senior Analyst
Karley
Herschelman
Data Science Manager
Austin's Asian Economic Impact
PHASE 2 FINDINGS & REPORTS
Phase 2 of the Central Texas Asian Impact Project, with a focus on the demographics of Austin’s Asian communities, completed preliminary work in September, 2023.
Thanks go out to the team AngelouEconomics and, especially, to Executive Vice President & Director of Research Dr. Matt Patton for their diligent research and analysis.
What is the Asian economic impact in Austin?
An Ecosystem of Knowledge
It takes a village to achieve the work of the Central Texas Asian Impact Project. With the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce serving in its established role as a “superconnector,” an Ecosystem of Knowledge is forming around the project. None of this work would be possible without the assistance and expertise of the individuals, organizations, and companies who join this important effort.
The GAACC is pleased to welcome Accenture as our inaugural Knowledge Partner. Austin City Demographer Dr. Lila Valencia has also joined the collaborative in a pivotal advisory role. Angelou Economics assisted in the development and analysis of the Austin AAPI Business Community Survey, including support provided for our Focus Group work in that area. As of Summer, 2024, we are onboarding teams from Travis County and Austin Community College, who will provide project support in upcoming phases of the Impact Project. Our deepest gratitude goes out to these talented and generous partners!
Dr. Lila Valencia
Demographer, City of Austin
