Editing Chinese Americans (section)

== Socioeconomics ==
=== Educational attainment ===
Overall, as a demographic group, Chinese Americans have a higher [[Educational attainment in the United States|educational attainment]], have a higher percentage of people working in select white collar and professional occupations, and earn higher [[median household income]]s compared to other demographic groups in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ticker |first=Neil |title = Major Study of Chinese Americans Debunks 'Model Minority' Myth |publisher=University of Maryland |date=12 November 2008 |url = http://newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=1786 |access-date=10 May 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120518080935/http://newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=1786 |archive-date=18 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chinese Americans, along with other East Asian Americans, typically exhibit above-average rates of academic achievement and higher educational attainment rates compared to other ethno-racial demographic cohorts within the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Choi |first=Daniel |title = The Other Side of the Model Minority Myth |journal=Yisei Magazine |url = http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~yisei/issues/spring_92/ys92_20.html |access-date = 2 December 2013 |archive-date = 27 October 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141027075024/http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~yisei/issues/spring_92/ys92_20.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese Americans often have some{{Clarify|date=May 2023}} of the highest averages in tests such as [[SAT]], [[ACT (test)|ACT]], [[Graduate Record Examination|GRE]] etc. in the United States. Although verbal scores lag somewhat due to the influx of new immigrants, combined SAT scores have also been higher than for most Americans.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.studyinternational.com/news/asian-americans-test-scores-sat-ac |title = Why Asian-Americans score so highly in the SAT & ACT |publisher = Study International |date = 30 November 2018 |access-date=3 September 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210326125451/https://www.studyinternational.com/news/asian-americans-test-scores-sat-act/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With above average SAT and ACT scores as well as GPA's, Chinese Americans are more likely to apply to competitively elite, prestigious, and high-ranked higher education institutions than other ethno-racial groups in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dharma |first=Tiffany |title = The Model Minority: Asian-American Youth and the Harmful Perpetuation of a Cultural Myth |journal = Inquiries Journal |volume=3 |issue=9 |year=2011 |page=2 |url = http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/571/2/the-model-minority-asian-american-youth-and-the-harmful-perpetuation-of-a-cultural-myth- |access-date = 10 May 2012 |archive-date = 11 October 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111011144401/http://studentpulse.com/articles/571/2/the-model-minority-asian-american-youth-and-the-harmful-perpetuation-of-a-cultural-myth- |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.parentingscience.com/chinese-parenting.html |title = Traditional Chinese parenting |publisher = Parenting Science |access-date = 31 December 2011 |archive-date = 16 December 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111216122656/http://www.parentingscience.com/chinese-parenting.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.arthurhu.com/index/aaward.htm#acm |title = Awards |website = Arthurhu.com |access-date = 31 December 2011 |archive-date = 25 December 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111225004718/http://www.arthurhu.com/index/aaward.htm#acm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/22/a_new_comparison_of_minority_and_non_minority_college_applicants |title = Who Applies (and Gets in) |author = Scott Jaschik |date = 22 August 2011 |website = Inside Higher Ed |access-date = 26 February 2012 |quote = Then there is the question of who applies to competitive colleges: the NELS data show that 30 percent of Asian American applicants do, compared to 18 percent of white students and 10 percent of black and Latino students. |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425194809/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/22/a_new_comparison_of_minority_and_non_minority_college_applicants |url-status=live}}</ref> Chinese Americans are also disproportionately represented among US [[National Merit Scholarship]] awardees, and constitute 13% of the nation's top [[Ivy League]] universities and other prestigious institutions of higher education around the United States. They are more likely to apply to competitively elite higher education institutions.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dharma|first=Tiffany|title=The Model Minority: Asian-American Youth and the Harmful Perpetuation of a Cultural Myth|journal=Inquiries Journal |year=2011|volume=3 |issue=9 |publisher=StudentPulse|page=2|url=http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/571/2/the-model-minority-asian-american-youth-and-the-harmful-perpetuation-of-a-cultural-myth-}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parentingscience.com/chinese-parenting.html|title=Traditional Chinese parenting |publisher=Parenting Science |date= |accessdate=2011-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arthurhu.com/index/aaward.htm#acm |title=Awards |publisher=Arthurhu.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/22/a_new_comparison_of_minority_and_non_minority_college_applicants |title=Who Applies (and Gets in) |author=Scott Jaschik |date=22 August 2011 |publisher=Inside Higher Ed |accessdate=26 February 2012 |quote=Then there is the question of who applies to competitive colleges: the NELS data show that 30 percent of Asian American applicants do, compared to 18 percent of white students and 10 percent of black and Latino students. }}</ref> Chinese Americans also constitute 24% of all Olympic Seattle Scholarship winners, 33% of [[USA Math Olympiad]] winners, 15.5% of [[Putnam Math Competition]] winners, and 36% of Duke Talent Identification Grand Recognition Ceremony attendees from the [[Dallas Metropolitan area]].<ref name="Awards">{{cite web|url=http://www.arthurhu.com/index/aaward.htm#beauty|title=Awards|publisher=Arthurhu.com|access-date=31 December 2011|archive-date=25 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111225004718/http://www.arthurhu.com/index/aaward.htm#beauty|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="CensusEdu2003">Stoops, Niacole.  "Educational Attainment in the United States, 2003." U.S. Census Bureau, [http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf Current Population Reports publication P20-550], June 2004.  Accessed 16 Feb 2007.</ref>

=== Area of study ===
Largely driven by educational immigration, among American [[PhD]] recipients in fields related to science and engineering, 25% of the recipients are of Chinese descent.<ref name="google1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMvaMuZkwvcC&q=percent+ethnic+chinese+silicon+valley&pg=PA419 |title=Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present – Judy Yung, Gordon H. Chang, H. Mark Lai |date=20 March 2006 |access-date=21 April 2012 |isbn=978-0-520-24309-5 |last1=Yung |first1=Judy |last2=Chang |first2=Gordon H. |last3=Mark Lai |first3=H. |publisher=University of California Press |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326125459/https://books.google.com/books?id=eMvaMuZkwvcC&q=percent+ethnic+chinese+silicon+valley&pg=PA419 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Level of education ===
According to the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau of Labor Statistics, 58.6% of all Chinese Americans have attained at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 35.0% nationally and 56.4% for all Asian-American groups. The 2021 U.S. Census also reports that 60.6% of Chinese American men attained a bachelor's degree and 56.9% of Chinese American women attained a bachelor's degree at a minimum. In addition, 31.0% of all Chinese Americans in the United States possess at least a master's, doctorate or other graduate and professional degree, compared to 25.8% for all Asian Americans, and is a little more than two times above the national average of 13.8%.<ref name="United States Census Bureau" /> The 2021 U.S. Census also reports that 64.9% of Chinese American men and 61.3% of Chinese American women work in an elite white-collar profession, compared to 57.5% for all Asian Americans, and is a little more than one and a half times above the national average of 42.2%.<ref name="United States Census Bureau">{{cite web |url = https://data.census.gov/table?q=asian+alone&t=001:016:018:022:023:Educational+Attainment:Employment:Income+(Households,+Families,+Individuals):Occupation&y=2021 |title=Selected Population Profile in the United States |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |date=2021 |access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|+ {{center|'''Bachelor's Degree or Higher Educational Attainment'''<ref name="United States Census Bureau"/>

}}
|-
!Ethnicity
!Percent of Population
|- style=""
| '''Chinese'''
| style="text-align:right;" | 58.6%
|-
| [[Japanese American|Japanese]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 54.6%
|-
| [[Korean American|Korean]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 60.7%
|-
| [[Asian American|Asian]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 56.4%
|-
| [[Taiwanese American|Taiwanese]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 80.8%
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| Total U.S. Population
| style="text-align:right;" | 35.0%
|}

=== Employment ===
[[File:Ebayheadquarters.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Technology conglomerates such as [[eBay]] located within high-technology centers across the United States, including California's [[Silicon Valley]], have become attractive destinations of employment for Chinese Americans with technical skill-sets and foreign-born Chinese technology entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their own high-technology companies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kauffman.org/entrepreneurship/foreign-born-entrepreneurs.aspx |title=Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs: An Underestimated American Resource |publisher=Kauffman.org |date=30 September 2006 |access-date=21 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528234930/http://www.kauffman.org/entrepreneurship/foreign-born-entrepreneurs.aspx |archive-date=28 May 2012 }}</ref>]]

==== Perceptions and change ====
There has been a significant change in the perceptions about Chinese Americans among the general American populace. In as little as a century of American history, [[Stereotypes of East Asians in the Western world|stereotypes of Chinese and other East Asian Americans]] have changed from being perceived as indentured and uneducated [[coolie]] laborers who were perpetually entangled in an endlessly hopeless cycle of socioeconomic destitution towards a modern juxtaposed portrayal of them being an intelligent, conscientious, and a highly educated minority group. Most Chinese Americans work as [[White-collar worker|white-collar]] professionals, many of whom are highly educated and salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed in management, professional, and related occupations such as engineering, medicine, finance, law, and academia. 63.1% of Chinese Americans work in white-collar professions compared with 57.5% for all Asian Americans and a U.S. national average of 42.2%.<ref name="United States Census Bureau" /> Chinese Americans also make up a third of the Asian-American high-tech professional workforce and one-tenth of the entire Silicon Valley workforce.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:chinese-american-contributions-to-silicon-valley-&catid=47:society&Itemid=56 |title=Chinese American Contributions to Silicon Valley |publisher=Modelminority.com |date=31 March 2003 |access-date=21 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916155237/http://www.modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:chinese-american-contributions-to-silicon-valley-&catid=47:society&Itemid=56 |archive-date=16 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chinese American unemployment rates are comparable with the general U.S. population average with a figure of 6.4% compared to a national rate of 6.3% in 2021.<ref name="United States Census Bureau" />

==== Medicine ====
Between 2008 and 2017, the number of Chinese-educated physicians practicing in the United States rose by 38.1%, and the total number of Chinese-educated physicians actively practicing in the United States was about 0.6% of the active physician workforce in 2017.<ref>Robbert J. Duvivier, John Boulet & Jason Z. Qu, [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214378 The contribution of Chinese-educated physicians to health care in the United States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721105959/https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0214378 |date=21 July 2020 }}, ''[[PLoS ONE]]'' 14(4): 2019, [[doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0214378]].</ref>

==== Technology sector ====
A significant number of Chinese Americans, who possess the required specialized expertise and qualifications in engineering and highly-technical domains, have gravitated towards [[Silicon Valley]], the prominent hub of high-technology in the United States in search of job prospects or to establish their own high-technology start-up business ventures. Many up-and-coming foreign-born Chinese and Chinese-American technology entrepreneurs endeavor to leverage their technical skillsets by initiating the new promising high-technology startups of tomorrow. Such ambitiously aspirant technology entrepreneurs benefit from the fulsome availability of venture capital, profound business acumen, and enticing financial incentives prevalent in the region, all strategically aimed and specifically tailored at fostering and nurturing technological innovation. Ethnic Chinese have been successful in starting new firms in technology centers across the United States. Chinese Americans have enjoyed a vast disproportion of entrepreneurial and investment success in various U.S.-based high-technology centers and sectors, as evidenced by the 2010 [[Goldsea]] 100 Compilation of America's Most Successful Asian Entrepreneurs.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://goldsea.com/Profiles/100/100.html | title=100 Most Successful Asian American Entrepreneurs | access-date=28 December 2011 | archive-date=24 November 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124044834/http://goldsea.com/Profiles/100/100.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese Americans accounted for 4% of people listed in the 1998 Forbes Hi Tech 100 List.<ref name="Awards" />

Annalee Saxenian, a UC Berkeley professor, whose scholarly research interests include the contribution of Chinese immigrants on America's high-technology realm carried out a study that showed that since 1998, one out of five high-tech start-ups in [[Silicon Valley]] were led by a Chinese American. During the same year, 5 of the 8 fastest growing high-technology companies in Silicon Valley had a leading upper-level management executive who was of Chinese ancestry, except for [[Yahoo]], whose [[Jerry Yang]] was a founder and owner, but was not serving in an executive leadership position. In Silicon Valley, several Chinese American community organizations, numbering from two to three dozen, actively strive to look out for and are committed to safeguarding the professional interests and well-being of the Chinese American community. These organizations boast membership counts with at least 100 individual members, with one particularly influential group being the [[Committee of 100 (United States)|Committee of 100]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:chinese-american-contributions-to-silicon-valley-&catid=47:society&Itemid=56 | title=Chinese American Contributions to Silicon Valley | access-date=10 March 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916155237/http://www.modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:chinese-american-contributions-to-silicon-valley-&catid=47:society&Itemid=56 | archive-date=16 September 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Immigrants from mainland China and Taiwan were key founders in 12.8% of all Silicon Valley start-ups between 1995 and 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://careerbright.com/tag/immigrant-entrepreneurs |title=Immigrant Entrepreneurs |publisher=Careerbright |access-date=21 April 2012 |archive-date=23 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623014134/http://careerbright.com/tag/immigrant-entrepreneurs |url-status=live }}</ref> Almost 6% of the immigrants who founded companies in the innovation/manufacturing-related services field are from China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IA12Df01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115080618/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IA12Df01.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=15 January 2007 |title=South Asia news – More foreign cogs in the US engine |work=Asia Times |date=12 January 2007 |access-date=21 April 2012}}</ref>

Research funded by the [[Public Policy Institute of California]] indicates that in 1996, 1,786 Silicon Valley technology companies with $12.5 billion in sales and 46,000 employees were run by executives of Indian or Chinese descent. Moreover, the pace of entrepreneurship among local immigrants has been increasing rapidly. While executives of Chinese or Indian origin were at the helm of 13% of the Silicon Valley technology businesses started between 1980 and 1985, they were also running 27% of the more than 4,000 businesses started between 1991 and 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ppic.org/main/commentary.asp?i=206 |title=A Valley Asset: Chinese, Indians Creating Businesses, Jobs, Wealth As Successful Entrepreneurs (PPIC Commentary) |publisher=Ppic.org |date=21 June 1998 |access-date=21 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527000933/http://www.ppic.org/main/commentary.asp?i=206 |archive-date=27 May 2013 }}</ref> Start-up firms remain a primary source for new ideas and innovation for Chinese American internet entrepreneurs. Many of them are employed or directly engaged in new start-up activities. The proportional share of start-up firms by ethnic Chinese in Silicon Valley skyrocketed from 9% in 1980–1984 to about 20% between 1995 and 1998.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eq119vbyzLAC&q=percent+ethnic+chinese+silicon+valley&pg=PA57 |title=Chinese Entrepreneurship in a Global Era – Raymond Sin-Kwok Wong |date=14 August 2008 |access-date=21 April 2012 |isbn=978-0-203-89488-0 |last1=Wong |first1=Raymond Sin-Kwok |publisher=Routledge |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326125508/https://books.google.com/books?id=eq119vbyzLAC&q=percent+ethnic+chinese+silicon+valley&pg=PA57 |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2006, Chinese American high-technology entrepreneurs were behind 20 percent of all Silicon Valley start-up firms, leading 2000 Silicon Valley companies, and employing 58,000 workers.<ref name="google1" /> Today, Chinese Americans still continue to own about 20% of all U.S.-based information technology companies that were founded in Silicon Valley since 1980.

Numerous professional organizations in perspective in the 1990s as a support network for fellow Chinese American high tech start-ups in the valley.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JS_Af8c_eK0C&q=Ethnic+Chinese+own+about+20+percent+of+all+Information+Technology+companies+that+were+founded+in+Silicon+Valley+since+1980&pg=PA117 |title=Doing Business in the New China: A Handbook and Guide – Birgit Zinzius |access-date=21 April 2012 |isbn=978-0-275-98031-3 |year=2004 |last1=Zinzius |first1=Birgit |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326125451/https://books.google.com/books?id=JS_Af8c_eK0C&q=Ethnic+Chinese+own+about+20+percent+of+all+Information+Technology+companies+that+were+founded+in+Silicon+Valley+since+1980&pg=PA117 |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1980 and 1999, 17% of the 11,443 high-tech firms in Silicon Valley—including some 40 publicly traded firms were controlled by an owner of Chinese ancestry. In 1990, Chinese Americans made up a third of the Asian-American high-tech professional workforce in addition to 11% of the entire Silicon Valley professional workforce. In 1998, Chinese Americans managed 2001 firms, employing 41,684 workers, and ran up 13.2 billion in sales. They also accounted for 17% of all Silicon Valley high-technology business owners, 10% of the professional high-technology workforce in the Valley, and 13.5% of the total sales all while accounting for less than 1% of the U.S. population at the time.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdDyRFWUVPkC&q=percent+chinese+silicon+valley&pg=PA156 |title=The Expanding Roles of Chinese Americans in U.S.-China Relations ... – Peter H. Koehn, Xiao-Huang Yin |access-date=21 April 2012 |isbn=978-0-7656-0950-2 |date=31 May 2002 |last1=Koehn |first1=Peter H. |last2=Yin |first2=Xiao-Huang |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326125453/https://books.google.com/books?id=OdDyRFWUVPkC&q=percent+chinese+silicon+valley&pg=PA156 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Self-employment and entrepreneurship ====
Chinese Americans are also noted for their high rates of self-employment, as they have an extensive history of starting and owning their own businesses through various means of self-employment dating back to the [[California Gold Rush]] in the 1880s.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xp4qZta2GYC&q=Chinese+American+self-employment+rate&pg=PA162 |title=Contemporary Asian American Communities: Intersections And Divergences – Linda Trinh Vő, Rick Bonus |access-date=28 May 2012 |isbn=978-1-4399-0124-3 |year=2009 |last1=Võ |first1=Linda Trinh |last2=Bonus |first2=Rick |publisher=Temple University Press |archive-date=26 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326125502/https://books.google.com/books?id=7xp4qZta2GYC&q=Chinese+American+self-employment+rate&pg=PA162 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, as more recent generations of Chinese Americans who have chose to seek higher education as another gateway to elevate themselves socioeconomically, rates of self-employment have been generally lower than population average.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web | url=http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=447 | title=The Second Generation and Self-Employment | publisher=Migration Policy Institute | date=October 2006 | access-date=28 May 2012 | first=Steven J. |last=Gold | archive-date=21 June 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621020542/http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=447 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2007, there were over 109,614 Chinese-owned employer firms, employing more than 780,000 workers, and generating more than $128 billion in revenue.<ref name="Survey of Business Owners">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/get07sof.html|title=Survey of Business Owners |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=31 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107231339/http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/get07sof.html?16 |archive-date=7 January 2012 }}</ref>

When Chinese Americans were largely excluded from the American labour markets during the 19th century, many of them started their own businesses.<ref name="Mother Jones, the Changing Power Elite, 1998">{{cite web|url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1998/03/zweigenhaft.html|title=Mother Jones, the Changing Power Elite, 1998|accessdate=January 20, 2007}}</ref> The community is also noted for their high rates of self-employment, as Chinese Americans have an extensive history of starting and owning their own businesses through various means of self-employment dating back to the [[California Gold Rush]] in the 1880s.<ref name="auto" /> In 2007, there were over 109,614 Chinese-owned employer firms, employing more than 780,000 workers, and generating more than $128 billion in revenue.<ref name="Survey of Business Owners" /> Restaurants has continued and still remain among the most common business establishment started by Chinese Americans as [[Chinese cuisine|Chinese food]] remains a staple composition in contemporary Chinese American culture. Fast casual restaurant establishments such as [[Manchu Wok]], [[Panda Express]], and [[Pick Up Stix]] were founded by Chinese Americans. [[Panda Express]] is a famous fast casual restaurant chain serving [[Chinese American cuisine|American Chinese cuisine in the United States]] founded by restaurateur [[Andrew Cherng]] and is one of the biggest Chinese American fast food establishments in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hirsch|first=Jerry|title=Profile {{!}} Andrew Cherng, Panda Express founder|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008149147_panda31.html|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Chinese cuisine-style restaurants account for one third of all the ethnic restaurants in the United States, with a glut of them concentrated in New York City alone, where many Chinese emigrants have also opened up restaurants serving non-Chinese culinary offerings such as taco stands and sushi bars.<ref name="factsanddetails1">{{cite web|url=http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=191&catid=5&subcatid=29 |title=Chinese Abroad: Fujians In The U.S. And Southeast Asia, Wenzhou People In Italy - China |publisher=Facts and Details |date= |accessdate=2012-04-23}}</ref> Chinese Americans run many of the laundries in New York metropolitan area.<ref name="factsanddetails1" /> Beyond the restaurant industry, Chinese Americans have also owned convenience and grocery stores, professional offices such as medical and law practices, laundromats, beauty parlours, and hair salons to establishing numerous and influential Silicon Valley high-technology companies that have become very successful and influential in the American economy. Several influential Chinese American businessmen such as the transplant surgeon [[Patrick Soon-Shiong]], computer hardware engineer [[Ming Hsieh]], and internet entrepreneur [[Jerry Yang (entrepreneur)|Jerry Yang]] have become billionaires in the process and have regularly topped the [[Forbes 400]]'s list of richest Americans in the past.<ref name="Awards" /> However, more recent generations of Chinese Americans who possess the academic qualifications to enter university have chosen to seek to enter the realm of American higher education as another gateway to elevate themselves socioeconomically, rates of self-employment have been generally lower than population average in contemporary America.<ref name="auto1" /> Despite the community's above-average academic performance and possession of sterling educational credentials, Chinese Americans still continue face [[Bamboo ceiling|barriers]] when advancing up the corporate ladder - particularly at American [[Fortune 500]] corporations - due to the prevailing stereotypes of Chinese and other East Asian Americans as possessing quiet and passive personalities, traits that do not necessarily translate well when they enter the suites of corporate America as they perceived to lack rudimentary interpersonal skills, leadership qualities, and English language competency. Nonetheless, the number of Asian Americans on the boards of 750 publicly held American companies increased from 15 to 26 from 1992 to 1995, where among the Asian Americans that rose to the top of the corporate boards were either Chinese or Japanese Americans.<ref name="Mother Jones, the Changing Power Elite, 1998" />

Among Chinese-owned American firms, 40% were in the professional, scientific, and technical services sector, the accommodation and food services sector, and the repair, maintenance, personal, and laundry services sector. Chinese-owned U.S. firms were 2% of all U.S. businesses in these sectors. Wholesale trade and accommodation and food services accounted for 50.4% of Chinese-owned business revenue. 66,505 or 15.7% of Chinese-owned firms had receipts of $250,000 or more compared with 2% for all U.S. businesses.<ref name="Survey of Business Owners" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.census.gov/econ/sbo/07/final/charts/asian_chart3.pdf |title=Chinese-Owned Firms |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-date=26 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026054634/http://www2.census.gov/econ/sbo/07/final/charts/asian_chart3.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.census.gov/econ/sbo/07/final/charts/asian_chart11.pdf |title=Number of Firms by Receipts Size of Firm: 2007 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-date=26 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026054557/http://www2.census.gov/econ/sbo/07/final/charts/asian_chart11.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/special-report/transcript/obamas-tax-plan-and-small-businesses |title=Obama's Tax Plan and Small Businesses |publisher=Fox News Channel |date=21 April 2011 |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510083400/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/special-report/transcript/obamas-tax-plan-and-small-businesses |archive-date=10 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/12/facts-about-small-business-taxpayers.html |title=Facts About Small Business Taxpayers |publisher=Small Business Trends |date=20 December 2010 |access-date=2 December 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203020119/http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/12/facts-about-small-business-taxpayers.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/15/296250/romney-rejects-buffetts-call-to-tax-the-rich-falsely-claims-it-would-hurt-small-businesses/?mobile=nc|title=Romney Rejects Buffett's Call To Tax The Rich, Falsely Claims It Would Hurt Small Businesses|website=Think Progress|date=15 August 2011|access-date=31 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801003336/http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/15/296250/romney-rejects-buffetts-call-to-tax-the-rich-falsely-claims-it-would-hurt-small-businesses/?mobile=nc|archive-date=1 August 2012}}</ref>

=== Economics ===
With their above average educational attainment rates, Chinese Americans from all socioeconomic backgrounds have achieved significant advances in their educational levels, occupational prestige, personal and household income, life expectancy, and other socioeconomic indicators. As the fulsome financial and socioeconomic opportunities offered by the United States have lifted many Chinese Americans out of poverty, and has allowed much of the community to channel their [[social mobility]] by elevating them into the ranks of America's [[American middle class|middle]] and [[Upper middle class in the United States|upper middle class]], as well as the enjoyment of substantially high [[quality of life|wellbeing]] relative to other minority ethno-racial groups in the United States.<ref name="U.S. census|">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/apsd/wepeople/we-3.pdf|author=U.S. Government|title=U.S. economics|access-date=25 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326163930/http://www.census.gov/apsd/wepeople/we-3.pdf|archive-date=26 March 2010}}</ref> Although the aggregate economic performance and situation of Chinese Americans remains highly positive, Chinese American wealth varies greatly by region across the country: For instance, in New York City, 22% of Chinese Americans live in poverty.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2008 |title=Working but Poor: Asian American Poverty in New York City |url=https://www.aafederation.org/doc/WorkingButPoor.pdf |website=Asian American Federation }}</ref>

Chinese Americans are more likely to own homes than the general American population. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 65% of Chinese Americans owned a home, higher than the total population's rate of 54%.<ref>{{cite journal|title=ASIAN AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.doc|journal=ASIAN AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS.doc|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:zXqF75nSoKMJ:www.aabronline.org/New%2520Updates/Newer%2520Updates/ASIAN%2520AMERICAN%2520CHARACTERISTICS.doc+Chinese+American+home+ownership+rate+%2B+Chinese&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg-GtjaiCR5F3hQuAifCyZI29yR8IDn3O1eVHWhP5l-LRc74CCwaeJNrBjuFMylN8OBEHOrlHko00MOg5eK3dMxyGc7dJfbOmgTZoOy6BlJD4niucEVk9TYBoxLcvm7cJDAQS8U&sig=AHIEtbTblbEWxSMAQA3aIuayvuwr2eVeOA|access-date=10 May 2012|archive-date=27 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927195231/https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache%3AzXqF75nSoKMJ%3Awww.aabronline.org%2FNew%2520Updates%2FNewer%2520Updates%2FASIAN%2520AMERICAN%2520CHARACTERISTICS.doc+Chinese+American+home+ownership+rate+%2B+Chinese&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg-GtjaiCR5F3hQuAifCyZI29yR8IDn3O1eVHWhP5l-LRc74CCwaeJNrBjuFMylN8OBEHOrlHko00MOg5eK3dMxyGc7dJfbOmgTZoOy6BlJD4niucEVk9TYBoxLcvm7cJDAQS8U&sig=AHIEtbTblbEWxSMAQA3aIuayvuwr2eVeOA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=U.S. Census Bureau|title=Chinese American Demographics|year=2000|publisher=Améredia Incorporated.|url=http://www.ameredia.com/resources/demographics/chinese.html|access-date=10 May 2012|archive-date=15 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415181518/http://www.ameredia.com/resources/demographics/chinese.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2003, real estate economist Gary Painter of the [[University of Southern California]] Lusk Center for Real Estate Research found out that when comparing homeowners with similar income levels [[Los Angeles]], the Chinese American home-ownership rate is 20% higher than [[White American|Whites]]; in [[San Francisco]], 23% higher; and in the [[New York metropolitan area]], 18% higher.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dooley|first=Tom|title={{!}} -A A +A Industry Watch: Chinese Lead Immigrant Groups in Homeownership|journal=National Association of Realtors|date=January 2003|url=http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/feature/article/2003/01/industry-watch-chinese-lead-immigrant-groups-homeownersh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420005827/http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/feature/article/2003/01/industry-watch-chinese-lead-immigrant-groups-homeownersh|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-04-20|access-date=10 May 2012}}</ref> A 2008 Asian Real Estate Association of America report released on behalf of the American community survey, Chinese Americans living in the states of [[Texas]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and [[California]] all had high home ownership rates that were significantly near or above the general population average.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bryan |first1=Chiu |first2=Melany Dela |last2=Cruz-Viesca |title=Following the Path to Asian American Home-ownership |journal=Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) Via American Community Survey |year=2008 |pages=9–11 |url=http://areaa.org/resources/AREAA_Demographic_Report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017233931/http://areaa.org/resources/AREAA_Demographic_Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 October 2012 |access-date=10 May 2012 }}</ref>

According to the 2020 U.S. census, Chinese American men had a full-time median income of $91,138 and Chinese American women had a median income of $75,148. Chinese Americans also have one of the highest [[Household income in the United States|median household income]]s relatively in comparison to their fellow East Asian American community counterparts. 

Despite overwhelmingly positive economic indicators and socioeconomic patterns compared to other non-white ethno-racial groups in the United States, a number of economic deterrents have been noted to afflict the Chinese American community including [[institutional racism|institutionalized discrimination]] against STEM researchers, engineers, and scientists of Chinese descent. While the median income of Chinese American households remains above most non-white ethno-racial groups in the United States, studies after the [[Great Recession]] revealed that East Asian men have witnessed the highest rate of persistent long-term unemployment.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hilburn |first=Matthew |title=Long-term Unemployment Hits Asian-Americans Hardest |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/long_term_unemployment_hits_asian_americans_hardest/1105574.html |work=VOA |date=25 May 2012 }}</ref> In addition, studies have shown that Asian Americans have been discriminated in companies with lower pay grades; even in larger high-tech corporate settings such as Google.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wakabayashi |first=Daisuke |title=Google Finds It's Underpaying Many Men as It Addresses Wage Equity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/technology/google-gender-pay-gap.html |work=The New York Times |date=4 March 2019 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Ethnicity
!Per Capita Income<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=S0201.&t=-04 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
|-
!As of 2023
|-
|Taiwanese
|$83,811
|-
|Indian
|$72,389
|-
|Japanese
|$61,568
|-
|Chinese except Taiwanese
|$61,289
|-
|Filipino
|$47,819
|-
|Vietnamese
|$40,037
|-
|Korean
|$58,560
|-
|Total US Population
|$43,313
|}

=== The Model Minority Myth: Historical Context and Implications ===
The "[[model minority]]" stereotype emerged in the mid-20th century and has significantly impacted Chinese American communities. While often presented as a positive characterization, this myth has complicated implications for both Chinese Americans and other minority groups. Historical evidence suggests this narrative emerged partially as a political tool during the Civil Rights era. Wu, Frank H. ''Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White''. Basic Books, 2001.

Early immigration patterns were significantly shaped by discriminatory policies, particularly during the Chinese Exclusion Era (1882–1943). These restrictions had lasting effects on community formation and cultural identity. Lee, Erika. ''At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943''. University of North Carolina Press, 2003.