Pakistani immigrants have been migrating to the United States as early as 1965 to the western states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The United States Census Bureau classifies the Pakistani American as Asian-Americans and they are also the seventh largest Asian-American community in America. Most have settled in metropolitan cities including New York, Houston, Chicago and Washington, D.C., which are more similar to large Pakistani cities such as Lahore and Karachi.

The median household income of Pakistani-American families is $61,363. Around 53.9% of Pakistanis have a bachelor’s degree or higher which is higher than 49% of all Asian-Americans. The most common occupations of Pakistani-Americans include managerial, sales, office, production, transportation and material moving occupations. Common industries that Pakistani Americans seek employment in are retail, education, health care and social assistance.

Pakistani Americans have not completely assimilated and prefer to conjugate with members of their own ethnic and linguistic group. Their native language Urdu is very important as 88% of the population speak another language other than English while only 12% speak only English.

Some of their most celebrated holidays are the Independence Day of Pakistan on August 14, the birthday of Jinnah, the founder of the Pakistani nation on December 25, and Pakistan Day on March 23. Religious celebrations include Ramadan, and Eid-ul-Azha, a festive observance of the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Share/Bookmark