Bhutanese Americans: Census and Demographic Data

Counting the Bhutanese American population accurately is more complicated than it might appear. Three distinct data sources — federal refugee arrival records, US Census Bureau estimates, and community-organisation figures — produce numbers that diverge substantially, reflecting genuine methodological differences rather than simple error. Understanding what each source measures, and what it misses, is essential for any accurate description of the Bhutanese American community.

The core methodological challenge is this: the majority of resettled Bhutanese refugees are Lhotshampa — ethnic Nepalis whose citizenship was stripped by Bhutan's 1985 Citizenship Act. When completing American Community Survey (ACS) forms, many Lhotshampa identify as "Nepalese" rather than "Bhutanese" because their ethnic, linguistic, and cultural identity is Nepali rather than the Drukpa-Ngalop identity associated with the Bhutanese state. The result is a structural undercount in ACS data of approximately seven times the number that refugee arrival records would suggest.

WRAPS Arrival Data

The most reliable baseline for the Bhutanese American population comes from the Worldwide Refugee Admissions Processing System (WRAPS), administered by the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM). WRAPS records every refugee arrival in the United States by country of origin, year, and initial placement city or state. Cumulative Bhutanese refugee arrivals from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2023 totalled approximately 96,000–96,216. This figure represents initial arrivals only; it does not account for births to refugees after arrival, deaths, or subsequent naturalisations. It also does not track secondary migration — the substantial movement of refugees from initial placement cities to other destinations.

American Community Survey Data

The Pew Research Center's aggregation of 2021–2023 ACS data estimates approximately 14,000 people in the United States identifying as Bhutanese alone — a figure dramatically lower than the WRAPS cumulative arrival count. The US Census Bureau's own estimate for 2023 placed the Bhutanese-identified population at approximately 20,000, making Bhutanese Americans the 25th-largest Asian-origin population. Both figures substantially undercount the true Bhutanese-origin population because of the identification methodology issue described above. ACS data also suffers from small-sample instability: for many individual states, the Bhutanese-alone sub-sample is too small to produce a reliable published estimate.

The Pew Research Center's Bhutanese fact sheet, which draws on ACS data, describes a young community with a median age lower than the US average, high rates of English proficiency among younger members, and significant geographic concentration in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Geographic Concentration

Geographic data is more reliable at the state and metropolitan level. Major Bhutanese American populations are documented in:

• Ohio — particularly Columbus (the largest concentration in North America), Cleveland, and Akron
• Pennsylvania — Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Erie
• Texas — Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth
• Minnesota — the Twin Cities
• New York — New York City and Buffalo
• Georgia — Atlanta and Clarkston

Community Estimates and the True Population Range

Community-organisation leaders and elected officials in states with large Bhutanese populations have cited substantially higher figures. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated in March 2025 that more than 70,000 Bhutanese Americans live in Pennsylvania. Such estimates often reflect community-political contexts and may blur the Bhutanese refugee population with the broader Nepali-American community, but they capture a reality that ACS data misses: when Lhotshampa who identify as Nepali on census forms are counted, the community is vastly larger than ACS figures suggest.

The most accurate assessment is that approximately 96,000 Bhutanese refugees have arrived in the United States since 2008, with the current resident community — accounting for births, deaths, and secondary migration — plausibly exceeding that figure when US-born children are included. The second generation is now entering adulthood in significant numbers, and their children will constitute a third generation with increasingly complex relationships to both Bhutanese and Nepali identity.

References

1. "Bhutanese in the U.S. Fact Sheet." Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/fact-sheet/asian-americans-bhutanese-in-the-u-s/
2. "Bhutanese population in the U.S., 2019–2023." Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/chart/bhutanese-population-in-the-u-s-2019-2023/
3. "Bhutanese Americans, By the Numbers." The Juggernaut. https://www.thejuggernaut.com/bhutanese-americans-numbers
4. US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. "Refugee Admissions Statistics." WRAPS. https://www.wrapsnet.org/admissions-and-arrivals/