Punjabi Americans

Panjābī Amrīkī
The language spread of Punjabi in the United States according to U.S. Census 2000
Total population
318,588[1] 0.1% of the total American population (2021)
Regions with significant populations
California	156,763 (0.42%)
New York	30,341 (0.16%)
Washington	19,292 (0.26%)
New Jersey	17,857 (0.2%)
Texas	15,538 (0.06%)
Languages
English (American •Indian •Pakistani) •Punjabi American Spanish •Hindi-Urdu
Religion
Sikhism,Hinduism,Islam,Christianity,Unaffiliated
Related ethnic groups
Indian Americans,Pakistani Americans,Punjabi Mexican Americans

Punjabi Americans areAmericans who either have total or partialPunjabi ancestry, originating in thePunjab region ofPakistan andIndia. There are over 300,000 Punjabi Americans, many of whom first migrated fromBritish Punjab and settled inCalifornia'sCentral Valley.

A notable community within Punjabi Americans is that ofPunjabi Mexican Americans, found in California with both Punjabi andMexican ancestry.

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Sikhs have been a part of the American populace for more than 130 years. At the turn of the 19th century, the province of Punjab ofBritish India was hit hard by British practices ofmercantilism. Many Sikhs emigrated to the United States and began arriving to work on farms in California. They traveled viaHong Kong toAngel Island, California, the western counterpart toEllis Island inNew York.^[4]

"Some Sikhs worked in lumber mills ofOregon or in railroad construction and for some Sikhs, it was on a railway line, which allowed other Sikhs who were working as migrant laborers to come into the town on festival days".

Due to discrimination fromAnglo Americans, many early Punjabi immigrants in California marriedMexican Americans, forming a sizablePunjabi Mexican American community. Punjabi farmers were also able to circumventlaws prohibiting their ownership of property by operating through American bankers.^[5]

There is a notable population ofRavidassias in the United States, with the majority of them living in California. It is estimated that there are about 20,000 members of the Ravidassia community in California’s Central Valley - a vast majority of them with roots in Punjab in northwestern India. The background of the Ravidassia community in California is from Sikhs, Hindus, and Indigenous peoples.^[6]Ravidassia community has six Guru Ravidass temples in California, which have an appearance of Sikh Gurdwaras with the sacred bookShri Guru Granth Sahib Ji placed at the center point of the main prayer hall.^[7]

Most Sikhs started life in America as farm labourers, with many eventually becoming landowners and successful farmers. In 1956,Dalip Singh Saund became the first Asian American to be elected to theUnited States House of Representatives. At present Amarjit Singh Buttar is perhaps the only turbaned Sikh who holds elected public office. He was elected in December 2001 to theVernon, Connecticut Board of Education for a four-year term. He has also been recently selected as the chairman of the board.Bobby Jindal, the governor ofLouisiana is also of Punjabi descent, as well asNikki Haley, the formerUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations^[8] and the 116th governor of South Carolina.^[9]

Many Punjabi Americans have become successful in technology-related fields.Vinod Dham helped to develop thePentium processor whileVinod Khosla andSabeer Bhatia co-foundedSun Microsystems andHotmail respectively.^[10]Aneesh Chopra served as the first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the United States, appointed by President Barack Obama.

Approximately half of all American Punjabis live in California.

Punjabi Americans bystate and territory (1990 −2021)^[11][12][13]

State andterritory	2017-21 (est.)		2006-10 (Est.)		2000		1990
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
California	142,450	0.38%	103,998	0.31%	67,820	0.22%	25,725
New York	36,435	0.19%	32,135	0.18%	22,560	0.13%	5,516
Washington	18,410	0.26%	11,454	0.19%	6,005	0.11%	861
New Jersey	17,225	0.2%	11,304	0.14%	7,730	0.1%	2,648
Texas	9,795	0.04%	6,875	0.03%	3,765	0.02%	1,497
Virginia	7,828	0.1%	8,177	0.11%	4,560	0.07%	1,283
Michigan	7,612	0.08%	5,676	0.06%	3,635	0.04%	1,256
Maryland	7,147	0.12%	3,224	0.06%	2,975	0.06%	1,699
Indiana	6,691	0.11%	2,895	0.05%	740	0.01%	418
Illinois	6,195	0.05%	4,276	0.04%	4,315	0.04%	2,180
Pennsylvania	5,057	0.04%	3,944	0.03%	2,030	0.02%	769
Ohio	5,011	0.05%	5,083	0.05%	2,040	0.02%	1,067
Massachusetts	4,917	0.07%	2,588	0.04%	995	0.02%
Arizona	3,833	0.06%	1,980	0.03%	1,035	0.02%
North Carolina	3,642	0.04%	2,932	0.03%	705	0.01%	485
Wisconsin	2,852	0.05%	1,936	0.04%	1,165	0.02%	318
Florida	2,544	0.01%	2,126	0.01%	1,655	0.01%
Georgia	2,540	0.03%	1,882	0.02%	790	0.01%	317
Nevada	2,190	0.08%	743	0.03%	715	0.04%
Kansas	1,948	0.07%	827	0.03%	249	0.01%	240
Missouri	1,670	0.03%	579	0.01%	500	0.01%	142
Oregon	1,570	0.04%	1,246	0.04%	425	0.01%
Connecticut	1,455	0.04%	1,269	0.04%	934	0.03%
Utah	1,383	0.05%	632	0.03%	255	0.01%	86
Colorado	1,121	0.02%	367	0.01%	360	0.01%
Minnesota	1,153	0.02%	331	0.01%	459	0.01%
Mississippi	858	0.03%	622	0.02%	275	0.01%	114
South Carolina	676	0.01%	261	0.01%	199	0.01%	214
Louisiana	612	0.01%	551	0.01%	474	0.01%	257
Alabama	507	0.01%	451	0.01%	219	0.01%	249
Iowa	481	0.02%	60	0%	125	0%
Arkansas	478	0.02%	91	0%	80	0%	56
Oklahoma	464	0.01%	53	0%	150	0%
Tennessee	379	0.01%	572	0.01%	200	0%
New Hampshire	359	0.03%	287	0.02%	85	0.01%	125
Kentucky	317	0.01%	340	0.01%	160	0%
Vermont	289	0.05%	120	0.02%	0	0%
Delaware	214	0.02%	371	0.04%	169	0.02%
New Mexico	207	0.01%	228	0.01%	130	0.01%
District of Columbia	189	0.03%	138	0.03%	134	0.02%
Nebraska	160	0.01%	70	0%	65	0%
Idaho	92	0.01%	324	0.02%	0	0%	33
Rhode Island	74	0.01%	0	0%	30	0%
Hawaii	68	0%	0	0%	39	0%
Alaska	33	0%	0	0%	25	0%
North Dakota	23	0%	0	0%	35	0.01%	21
Montana	12	0%	13	0%	0	0%
Maine	5	0%	0	0%	0	0%	25
South Dakota	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
West Virginia	0	0%	196	0.01%	219	0.01%	72
Wyoming	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Puerto Rico	0	0%	16	0%	0	0%
United States	309,373	0.1%	223,309	0.08%	141,295	0.05%	47,673

15 largest Punjabi AmericanPrimary statistical area populations

Primary statistical area	2017-2021American Community Survey[14]		2012-2016American Community Survey[15]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA	62,574	0.69%	49,626	0.62%
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA	49,005	0.22%	49,728	0.22%
Sacramento-Roseville, CA CSA	31,576	1.26%	30,195	1.28%
Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA CSA	20,217	0.12%	18,858	0.11%
Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA CSA	16,559	1.36%	16,010	1.56%
Seattle-Tacoma, WA CSA	15,743	0.34%	11,825	0.28%
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA CSA	13,054	0.14%	12,930	0.15%
Bakersfield, CA MSA	6,610[16]	0.79%	6,822	0.85%
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA	6,416	0.09%	5,125	0.08%
Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN-WI CSA	5,711	0.06%	5,606	0.06%
Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie, IN CSA	5,493	0.24%	4,533	0.21%
Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, MI CSA	5,458	0.11%	4,548	0.09%
Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT CSA	5,144	0.06%	3,256	0.04%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-OK CSA	4,273	0.06%	4,467	0.07%
Houston-The Woodlands, TX CSA	4,135	0.06%	2,854	0.05%
United States	309,373	0.1%	280,867	0.09%

Nearly half of American Punjabis live in California. Most of California's Punjabi population live inNorCal, especially in theCentral Valley and theBay Area. The nation's largest Punjabi population is inCalifornia'sCentral Valley, where Punjabi is the third most spoken language after onlyEnglish andSpanish.^[17] Punjabis can be found across theSacramento andSan Joaquin valleys, but the largest concentrations can be found in the valley's largest cities (Sacramento in the Sacramento Valley andStockton,Fresno, andBakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley), and in smaller communities associated with the farming of almonds, peaches, walnuts, and plums. There are also significant concentrations of Punjabi Americans in theSacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and in the Bay Area nearFremont, California.

In theSacramento Valley,Yuba City andLive Oak have prominent Punjabi populations, with the first Punjabi arriving in Yuba City in 1906.^[18] In 2021, Yuba City was home to anIndian American population of 10,638 (15.3% of the city's population), while Live Oak was home to an Indian American population of 1,038 (11.4% of the city's population), with most of these being Punjabis.^[19]Sutter County, California as a whole is home to 12,753 Indian Americans (12.9% of the county population); with most of these being Punjabis, this makes Sutter County the most proportionally Punjabi county in America. Down south in theSan Joaquin Valley,Livingston is home to 2,798 Indian Americans (19.9% of the city's population); with most of these being Punjabi, Livingston is the most proportionally Punjabi municipality in America.^[20][21]

TheNew York metropolitan area also has a significant Punjabi American presence, with 49,005 Punjabis living in the area. 18,187 Punjabis live in New York City (0.23% of the city's population), including 16,139 in the borough ofQueens (0.73% of the borough's population).^[22] TheRichmond Hill neighborhood ofQueens is often referred to as "Little Punjab" due to its large Punjabi population. In 2020, the stretch of 101st Avenue between 111th and 123rd streets in Richmond Hill was renamedPunjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ) and the stretch of 97th Avenue between Lefferts Boulevard and 117th Street was renamed Gurdwara Street.^[23][24] Outside of the city, the suburbs ofHicksville inLong Island andCarteret inCentral Jersey have significant Punjabi populations. In 2021, Hicksville was home to 8,040 Indian Americans (18.7% of the community's population) while Carteret was home to 4,708 Indian Americans (18.8% of the borough's population), with many of these being Punjabis.^[25]

Outside of California and the New York metropolitan area, there are significant populations of Punjabi Americans inKent, Washington (in theSeattle Metropolitan Area) andGreenwood, Indiana (in theIndianapolis Metropolitan Area).

20 largest Punjabi AmericanPublic Use Microdata Area populations

PUMA	2017-2021American Community Survey[26]
	Pop.	%
Sutter &Yuba Counties--Yuba City PUMA, California	11,182	6.7%
San Joaquin County (South)--Tracy,Manteca &Lathrop Cities PUMA; California	9,432	4.17%
NYC-Queens Community District 9--Richmond Hill &Woodhaven PUMA, New York	7,705	5.39%
Alameda County (Southwest)--Union City,Newark &Fremont (West) Cities PUMA; California	4,717	3.41%
Fresno County (North Central)--Fresno City (North) PUMA, California	4,686	2.57%
Kern County (Central)--Bakersfield City (West) PUMA, California	4,683	2.19%
NYC-Queens Community District 13--Queens Village,Cambria Heights &Rosedale PUMA; New York	4,592	2.26%
Sacramento County (Northwest)--Sacramento City (Northwest/Natomas) PUMA, California	4,457	3.98%
King County (Southwest Central)--Kent City PUMA, Washington	4,236	3.35%
San Joaquin County (Central)--Stockton City (North) PUMA, California	3,927	2.2%
NYC-Queens Community District 10--Howard Beach &Ozone Park PUMA, New York	3,877	2.88%
Middlesex County (Northeast)--Carteret Borough PUMA, New Jersey	3,615	3.38%
Alameda County (South Central)--Fremont City (East) PUMA, California	3,310	1.73%
Sacramento County (Central)--Elk Grove City PUMA, California	3,300	2.13%
Fresno County (Central)--Fresno City (Southwest) PUMA, California	3,260	1.98%
Nassau County (East Central)--Oyster Bay Town (Central) PUMA, New York	3,202	3.19%
Fresno County (Central)--Fresno City (Southeast) PUMA, California	2,875	2.73%
Merced County (West & South)--Los Banos &Livingston Cities PUMA, California	2,771	2.6%
Sacramento County (South)--Galt,Isleton Cities &Delta Region PUMA; California	2,769	2.43%
Alameda County (East)--Livermore,Pleasanton &Dublin Cities PUMA; California	2,768	1.22%
United States	309,373	0.1%

• Kala Bagai, immigration activist
• Bhagat Singh Thind, soldier and spiritualist. Fought forIndian-American citizenship rights in the US
• Sakharam Ganesh Pandit, lawyer and civil rights activist. Lawyer of Bhagat Singh Thind inUnited States v. Bhagat Singh Thind
• Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of US Army captain Humuyun Khan and anti-Islamophobia activists

• Humayun Khan,US Army officer who was killed in theIraq War
• Uday Singh, soldier of Indian descent who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom

• Raaginder, violinist, music producer and songwriter
• Heems, rap artist and former member of alternative hip-hop group Das Racist
• Raveena Aurora, singer-songwriter
• Amar Sandhu, singer-songwriter

• Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana
• Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
• Kashmir Gill, former mayor of Yuba City, California
• Ravinder "Ravi" Bhalla, mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey and first turban-wearing Sikh mayor of a U.S. city
• Dalip Singh Saund, first Asian American and first member of a non-Abrahamic faith elected to the House of Representatives
• Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative for California's 17th District
• Lahori Ram - First Indo-American to be appointed as the Economic Development Commissioner of California.^[27]
• Zohran Mamdani - candidate for New York City mayor, of Punjabi descent through hismother's ancestry

• Satnam Rattu - Indian origin judge of theSuperior Court of Sacramento County inCalifornia.^[28]
• Neetu Badhan Smith - First Sikh woman judge in theUnited States.^[29]

• Mike Mohamed, American football linebacker

• List of Indian Americans
• List of Pakistani Americans

• Indian diaspora in the United States
• Pakistani diaspora in the United States
• Punjabi diaspora in the United States
• Asian diaspora in the United States
• American people of Indian descent
• American people of Punjabi descent

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation
• Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters