[Matalino]

I've considered moving to Florida for quite some time now as I enjoy it everytime I go and know some people who live there but one thing that always struck me is the lack of Asian population anywhere in the state. I usually go to the Miami area but I've also visited the Orlando and Tampa areas. Being Filipino, I stick out like a sore thumb because I never see any Asians really. The state in general feels pretty black and white.
I'm just curious as to why this is. The climate of South Florida is similar to that in Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Philippines but Asians in general seem to avoid Florida.
Obviously you cannot compare it to somewhere like California where the Asian population is huge or even New York/New Jersey but southern states like Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia all have visible Asian populations but it seems like the percentage of Asians in Florida never exceeds 7-8% in communities and most cities in Florida are only like 1-4%. Why is this? I'm just curious.

[bmw335xi]

I'm half Korean, but most non-Asians think I'm Asian, while most Asians think I'm White lol. I lean more toward my Asian side in terms of things I like, especially food. My girl-friend is an American born Chinese, but spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong. Orlando has the most Asian culture in the state, which isn't saying much, but definitely is light years ahead of South Florida. There is a lot more Asians moving to Orlando in recent years, there are a lot of boba tea places opening up along with restaurants. There is a decent size Vietnamese population here already and a growing Chinese population.

In my opinion, it's because there are many parts of the country with established Asian populations, so instead of starting new in Florida, they would rather move to an area that has the population, food, etc already. The other thing is distance from Asia, combine that with a small Asian population and Asian culture, they move to Atlanta or the NE, but most choose California and Washington. The final thing is jobs... Florida still lacks a lot of high paying jobs. Asians in America tend to have good incomes. Knowing Chinese for example in Florida doesn't add much value here.

Florida is pretty diverse between White, Black & Hispanic... but the Asian population is quite small. If you have other questions, let me know!

[Bobdreamz]

Asians seem to be more visible in Orlando than they do in SE Florida/Miami for some reason.
They seem more spread out there.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by Matalino

I'm just curious as to why this is. The climate of South Florida is similar to that in Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Philippines but Asians in general seem to avoid Florida.

Some people see that as a bug rather than a feature. One February, we got talking with ones of the waitresses at a local Thai restaurant who was a recent immigrant. She said she was very excited to get away from the heat of Bangkok, and we had to kind of break it to her gently about how similar summers on the Gulf side can be to that.

Orlando has a noteworthy Vietnamese population because of a big post-Vietnam War resettlement program in the region. A lot of the Asian population in the rest of the state goes back to military spouses that someone (typically the fella) met while they were stationed at some point in Asia, and then the family opted to be near a base in Florida when (usually) he retired, followed by normal family reproduction and a bit of chain migration like the aforementioned restaurant waitress.

My county is a little over 3% Asian-only and probably twice that Asian-mixed race, and a lot of those folks are Thai or Filipino or Korean because that's where we had bases from the 1960s to present. And I can think of a number of small Buddhist temples scattered throughout the Redneck Riviera.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

Asians seem to be more visible in Orlando than they do in SE Florida/Miami for some reason.
They seem more spread out there.

Ditto for south Asians/Indians as well. I feel like Orlando has the biggest presence in the state as compared to Miami.

Agree with bmw, I think most Asians are going to established cities like SF, Toronto, Vancouver etc

[gatorlyn]

There is a Jollibee in Jacksonville, FL by the way. There is a decent sized Filipino population there due to the military ties. I think most Asians, when they started migrating to the US targeted the bigger cities where the majority of the work/jobs were. The ones who came after were inclined to relocate closer to where they had relatives or knew people, and so on.


I don't think Florida was such a big draw back then as far as Asian immigration, since not much work available, (maybe different for those coming from Latin countries but more so due to proximity), so you don't have the huge populations like California, NY/NJ.

[sinatras]

Asians value public schools. They know that Florida is not known for the quality of its public schools.

[britinspain]

Asians settled in large numbers on the west coast over the last 150 years and the majority appear to prefer to stay put, when travelling around the west coast I was surprised by how many Asians were there particularly compared to the east coast which I am more familiar with, where you don't see many with the exception of large cities like New York

Obviously the closer proximity of Asia to the west coast will also be a draw to many who may have families back in their traditional homelands.

[Irishtom29]

There could be all kinds of Israelis, Turks, Lebanese and Armenians walking around and who would notice?

[jghorton]

Shared perceptions are not always accurate.

On a national and a city by city basis, the Asian-American population is typically about 2.5-percent - which is the same as Florida's Asian population. It does seem, however, that there are relatively few Asian American's in Florida as compared with California and Hawaii (perhaps due to proximity). Since the Asian-American population has increased a whopping 72-percent since 2005, those demographics are likely to change. Asians, however, receive far less press and social attention than other ethnic groups.

In contrast, another inaccurate shared perception is the ratio of the black and hispanic population of America. Due to the amount of press and social coverage, most perceive each to be about 30-percent. Actually, the African American population is only about 12.7-percent, while the Hispanic and Latino population is about 17-percent.