Released May 23, 2024
May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and HPIO analysis of Census Bureau data found that Asian Ohioans come from 38 ancestries, and more than 193,000 Ohioans live in a household that speaks an Asian or Pacific Islander language.
When considering Ohio’s Asian population, it is important to acknowledge its vast diversity. According to the Pew Research Center, “The largest Asian origin groups in the U.S. differ significantly by income, education and other characteristics. These differences highlight the wide diversity of the … Asian population and provide a counterpoint to the ‘model minority’ myth and the description of the population as monolithic.”
HPIO’s recently released 2024 Health Value Dashboard includes, for the first time, an equity profile on Asian Americans. While the profile highlights that that Asian Ohioans collectively experience worse outcomes than white Ohioans across measures of healthcare access and the physical and social environment, it also highlights that different groups within the population experience different outcomes.
“Collecting and grouping these diverse communities together can mask disparities and the underlying challenges experienced by specific groups,” according to the Dashboard. “For example, while Asian Americans, as a group, may perform well on certain indicators, existing data on groups from Southeast Asia and Bhutanese and Nepali refugees suggest that these communities experience poorer outcomes. Oversampling when collecting data can help ensure that data is representative, especially for groups with smaller population sizes, and allow for more meaningful disaggregation.”
The 30th Annual Columbus Asian Festival, one of the largest Asian festivals in the U.S., will celebrate the diversity of the Asian community this weekend (May 25-26) at Franklin Park in Columbus.