The Cost of Living and the Regional Distribution of Asian Americans

Abstract

In assessing the extent to which Asian Americans are disadvantaged in the labor market, cost of living and regional distribution remain key factors that have not been directlyinvestigated in the prior research. Using data from the 2000 U.S. Census, this study finds that the majority of Asian Americans tend to reside in the Northeast and West, where the cost of living is relatively high. Using the 5-Percent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) from the 2000 U.S. Census, this researchalso directly ascertains that the cost of living expense is significantly higher for Asian Americans than for non-Hispanic whites, even after controlling for demographic and class factors including education. This finding of significantly higher cost of living among Asian Americans holds even if the cost of living is examined by major Asian ethnicity. Furthermore, this study finds that 1.5 generation Asian American men do not face any wage disadvantage in the U.S. labor market net of cost of living and other factors, but a 2 percent disadvantage is evident for native born Asian American men. Findings of this research suggest that racial and ethnic discrimination in the post-Civil Rights era has been ameliorated at last for Asian Americans.