Where Asian Behind-the-Camera Opportunity Is Strongest and Weakest

This table compares the 10 highest- and lowest-ranked metros on the Asian Opportunity Index that met the study’s data-coverage requirements. The index combines Asian representation implied by each metro’s occupation mix, a pay-adjusted local wage benchmark, and population-adjusted job access.

The Asian Opportunity Index combines an Asian-share score weighted at 35%, a pay-adjusted wage score weighted at 35%, and a job-access score weighted at 30%. A higher score indicates stronger relative modeled opportunity among eligible metros. Index scores are points, not percentages.
Asian share implied by job mix estimates representation by applying national Asian occupation shares to each metro’s mix of selected film-production-related jobs. It is not the observed percentage of local workers who are Asian.
The pay-adjusted wage benchmark reflects the metro’s local-purchasing-power wage environment after applying the national Asian-to-White pay factor of 127.2%. It is a modeled benchmark, not the amount Asian workers actually earn in that metro.
Asian job access per one million residents is based on modeled Asian employment and metro population. It is an index input, not a BLS-published count of local Asian workers.
 See more in methodology.