Hmong Americans
Hmong Americans (RPA: Hmoob Mes Kas, Pahawh Hmong: "𖬌𖬣𖬵 𖬉𖬲𖬦 𖬗𖬲") are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s. Over half of the Hmong population from Laos left the country, or attempted to leave, in 1975, at the culmination of the Laotian Civil War.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 362,244 (2022) 0.11% of the U.S. population (2022) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| California (Fresno, Sacramento, Stockton, Merced), Oklahoma (Tulsa), Wisconsin (Wausau, Sheboygan, Green Bay, Fox Cities, Madison, Milwaukee), Minnesota (Minneapolis–St. Paul), North Carolina (Charlotte, Raleigh, Hickory), New York (New York City), Alaska (Anchorage) | |
| Languages | |
| Hmong, American English, some Mandarin, some Lao, some Thai, some Vietnamese | |
| Religion | |
| Miao folk religion, Buddhism, Shamanism, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Miao people |
Thousands of Hmong were evacuated or escaped on their own to Hmong refugee camps in Thailand. About 90% of those who made it to refugee camps in Thailand were ultimately resettled in the United States. The rest, about 8 to 10%, resettled in countries including Canada, France, the Netherlands, and Australia.
According to the 2021 American Community Survey by the US Census Bureau, the population count for Hmong Americans was 368,609. As of 2019, the largest community in the United States was in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. Hmong Americans face disparities in healthcare, and socioeconomic challenges that lead to lower health literacy and median life expectancy, and per capita income.