For the first time ever, concrete data on Arab American households have been made available through a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. This data has been largely unavailable until now, because the standard census form does not yet offer a check-box option to identify oneself as having Arab ancestry. The American Community Survey (ACS) is a much more detailed instrument to collect data on specific ethnicities. Their report, Arab Households in the United States,draws on ACS data collected from 2006–2010.
According to ACS data, there are more than 1.5 million Arab Americans living in the U.S., the majority of which are Lebanese, Egyptian and Syrian. Large groups of Iraqis, Yemenis, Moroccans, Jordanians, and Palestinians also reside in the country. While some groups dispute the accuracy of this number, the real value of the report lies in its economic statistics.
For example, the home-ownership rate for Arab Americans is lower than the national average, but some groups (Lebanese, Syrians) own homes at a higher than average rate. Additionally, the median income for Arab American households is $56,433 – higher than the national average. While this sounds positive, some groups fair better than others: Iraqis and Yemenis earn less than $35,000 per household.
This data provides insights into community needs, and can be incredibly useful for nonprofit organizations that serve the Arab American populace. Additionally, census data helps guide philanthropic foundations’ priorities, and can direct more foundation and government funding to under-served communities.
Related articles
- Arab-Americans: A ‘Growing’ Community, But By How Much? (NPR)
- Census: Arabs thriving in U.S.; Mich. population tend to be younger, poorer (The Detroit News)
Photo courtesy cseeman