Prevalence of low-wage work among Asian American and Pacific Islanders within each industry group

Table shows the share of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers paid less than $19.69 within each industry. The first row in the table, "Share of low-wage AAPI workforce," shows the make-up of the AAPI low-wage workforce. By comparing this row to the other rows, the user can identify if certain AAPI groups are overrepresented in particular industries. For example, of AAPI workers paid low wages in Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting, one in three (34.2%) are South Asian while South Asians make up about 11% of the low-wage AAPI workforce.

In 2022, the value of the low-wage threshold is $19.69. The sample includes workers who live and work in California, were employed last week but not self-employed, ages 16+, and with non-zero earnings last week. We combine 2021 and 2022 data to increase sample sizes and inflate 2021 wages to 2022 dollars before applying the 2022 low-wage threshold. Some cells may still have small sample sizes. Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction Industry was removed due to small sample sizes. See "Data and Methods" for the definition of each AAPI group.
Chart: UC Berkeley Labor CenterSource: American Community Survey 2021 and 2022Get the dataEmbed Download imageDownload PDFDownload SVGCreated with Datawrapper