Pakistani Americans

People who were born in the United States yet have Pakistani ancestry are known as Pakistani Americans. The phrase "dual national" may also be used to refer to individuals who are citizens of both Pakistan and the United States. When compared to the average population of the United States, members of the Pakistani-American diaspora have much better levels of educational attainment and incomes for their households. It was anticipated that there were 629,946 Pakistani Americans in 2021, making up around 0.19% of the total population of the United States and approximately 10.5% of South Asian Americans.

Beginning in the eighteenth century, people from regions that are now a part of Pakistan (formerly northwestern British India) and the Mughal Empire began migrating to the United States to work in agriculture, logging, and mining in the western states of California, Oregon, and Washington. These regions were previously a part of India. Following the enactment of the Luce–Celler Act in 1946, these immigrants were given the opportunity to become naturalised citizens of the United States. According to reports from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, there were only 2,500 Pakistani immigrants who entered the United States between the years 1947 and 1965. The majority of these immigrants were students who graduated from American universities and decided to remain in the United States after deciding to make it their permanent home. This event signalled the foundation of a separate community in the United States known as "Pakistani." However, after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the INS Act of 1965 into law in 1965, which eliminated per-country immigration quotas and introduced immigration on the basis of professional experience and education, the number of Pakistanis immigrating to the United States increased dramatically. According to the data provided by the United States Census Bureau, there were around 100,000 Pakistani Americans living in the United States in the year 1990. However, by the year 2005, this number had increased to 210,000.

According to projections made by the United States Census Bureau, there were about 629,946 people of Pakistani origin residing in the United States in the year 2021. This is an increase from the number of persons who reported being in this category in the census taken in the United States in the year 2010, which was 409,163. The size of the Pakistani community in the United States is estimated to be significantly greater by some studies than it really is, and study conducted in 2005 by the Pakistani embassy in the United States concluded that the population totaled more than 700,000 individuals. The United States of America accepts immigrants from Pakistan at the 12th highest rate of all countries in the world.

Punjabis make up almost half of all Pakistani Americans, while Muhajirs make up around a third of this population. The remaining Pakistani Americans belong to a variety of different ethnic groups, including Pashtuns, Balochis, Sindhis, Memons, and Kashmiris. The book "Portrait of a Giving Community" written by Professor Adil Najam is the most comprehensive research to date on the demographics of Pakistanis living in the United States. The author believes that there are around 500,000 Pakistanis living in the country.