Filipino Americans in the USA
4.6 Million Strong — History, Community & Identity from 1587 to Today
Filipino Americans are one of the oldest, largest, and most deeply embedded immigrant communities in the United States. With an estimated 4.6 million residents of Filipino descent, they are the third-largest Asian American group in the country — behind Chinese Americans and Indian Americans — and the largest population of overseas Filipinos anywhere in the world. From the galleon sailors who landed on the California coast in 1587 to the Manilamen who built fishing villages in Louisiana in 1763, from the manong farmworkers who sparked the Delano Grape Strike to the nurses who held this country together through a pandemic, the Filipino American story is not a footnote in American history. It is American history.
Yet it remains one of the least told. Filipino Americans have been called "the invisible minority" — not because they are few, but because the systems that record, teach, and celebrate American history have consistently overlooked them. This page exists to fix that. It is PinoyBuilt's definitive national reference on Filipino Americans in the USA — who we are, where we came from, where we live, and why our history here matters. It connects to our regional pillar pages that tell the local stories: California, Chicago, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Stockton, Vallejo, and Washington.
This page is written from lived experience, not from a distance.
There is no single page on the internet that tells the complete Filipino American story — from 1587 to today — with the depth, accuracy, and lived perspective it deserves. That is what PinoyBuilt is building. The regional pillar pages tell the local stories: the manongs in Stockton, the Navy families in Vallejo, the professionals in Chicago, the multigenerational roots of Hawaii. This page is the umbrella — the national story that ties them all together.
A History of Filipino Immigration to America
The Filipino presence in America stretches back further than most Americans know — further, in fact, than the founding of Jamestown. Understanding the waves of migration that brought Filipinos here is essential to understanding who Filipino Americans are today.
The Filipino American National Historical Society recognizes 1763 — not 1587 — as the year of the first permanent Filipino settlement in the United States: St. Malo, Louisiana. That is 13 years before the Declaration of Independence, making Filipinos among the earliest Asian settlers on American soil. October is officially designated as Filipino American History Month, commemorating the first documented arrival of Filipinos at Morro Bay, California, on October 18, 1587.
→ Read PinoyBuilt's Filipino American History archive
→ Explore immigration stories on PinoyBuilt
Where Filipino Americans Live
Filipino Americans are present in all 50 states, but the community is heavily concentrated in the West — a geographic footprint shaped by a century of military assignments, agricultural labor, healthcare recruitment, and chain migration. Nearly 40% of all Filipino Americans live in California. The second-largest communities are in Hawaii, Texas, Washington, and Nevada.
| State | Filipino American Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1,700,000 | 38% of all U.S. Fil-Ams; Bay Area, LA, San Diego |
| Hawaii | 270,000 | Largest Asian group in the state; plantation legacy |
| Texas | 232,000 | Emerging growth hub; Houston, Dallas, San Antonio |
| Washington | 195,000 | Seattle, Navy bases; deep historical roots |
| Nevada | 163,000 | Clark County (Las Vegas); hospitality workforce |
| Illinois | 145,000 | Chicago metro; healthcare & professionals |
| Florida | 130,000 | Jacksonville (Navy); Tampa, South Florida |
| New York | 120,000 | NYC metro; healthcare professionals since 1970s |
| New Jersey | 115,000 | NY metro spillover; healthcare & white-collar |
| Virginia | 100,000 | Hampton Roads (Navy); Northern Virginia (defense) |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau ACS (2023); Pew Research Center (2024); Neilsberg analysis of ACS data
Filipinos are the largest Asian community in nine U.S. states — Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia — according to Congressional records recognizing Filipino American History Month. In Hawaii, Filipinos are the largest Asian group overall. In Nevada, the Filipino community is anchored in the Las Vegas hospitality industry. And in Alaska, the connection traces back to the salmon canneries of the early 20th century, where manong workers — known as "Alaskeros" — spent months each year processing fish under brutal conditions.
The Backbone of American Healthcare
No story of Filipino Americans is complete without the nurses. Filipino Americans comprise only about 1% of the U.S. population, but they make up 4% of the registered nursing workforce — and one out of every 20 nurses in America was trained in the Philippines. This is not a coincidence. It is the direct legacy of American colonialism.
When the United States colonized the Philippines after 1898, it established an Americanized nursing curriculum in Filipino schools. For decades, that training pipeline — combined with U.S. nursing shortages and immigration policies that prioritized healthcare professionals — created a culture of migration that channeled Filipino nurses into American hospitals. Over 150,000 Filipino nurses have emigrated to the United States since the 1960s. They worked the understaffed units, the overnight shifts, the long-term care facilities that other nurses avoided. They became, in the words of historian Catherine Ceniza Choy, an "empire of care."
The pandemic made the cost of that care visible. While Filipino Americans represent 4% of nurses, they accounted for over 31% of nurse deaths from COVID-19 — a staggering disproportion driven by their overrepresentation in acute care, ICU, and frontline settings. Approximately one in four working Filipino adults in the United States is a frontline healthcare worker, according to a JAMA Network report. This is the price of invisibility. They were always there. The pandemic forced the country to notice.
→ Read PinoyBuilt's community coverage
Military Service & the U.S. Navy
Filipino Americans have served in every American armed conflict since the Civil War. During World War II, over 260,000 Filipinos fought under the American flag in the Pacific — in Bataan, Corregidor, and as guerrilla fighters across the archipelago. They were promised equal veterans' benefits by President Roosevelt. That promise was broken by the Rescission Act of 1946, which stripped Filipino veterans of their rights with a single clause: their service "shall not be deemed to be or to have been service" in the United States military.
The fight for recognition lasted over 70 years. In 2009, a one-time payment was offered as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In 2017 — with most veterans in their 90s or already gone — Filipino WWII veterans were finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.
Beyond WWII, the U.S. Navy enlistment program reshaped Filipino American geography. From 1947 to 1992, the Navy recruited Filipinos directly from the Philippines — initially restricted to steward and mess duties. This program created the foundation for Filipino communities in every Navy town in America: San Diego, Vallejo, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Bremerton, and Pearl Harbor. The children and grandchildren of those sailors built the suburban Fil-Am communities that exist today.
In 1995, Edward Soriano became the first Filipino American general officer in the U.S. Army. In 2000, Eleanor Mariano became the first Filipino American flag officer — and the first female Physician to the President of the United States.
→ Explore PinoyBuilt's politics and civic engagement coverage
Labor, Activism & the Manong Legacy
On September 7, 1965, Filipino farmworkers led by Larry Itliong and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) walked off the grape vineyards in Delano, California. They were demanding a raise to $1.40 an hour. More than 2,000 Filipino workers voted to strike. Twelve days later, Itliong reached out to Cesar Chavez and the Mexican American National Farm Workers Association and persuaded them to join. The two groups merged in 1967 to form the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Most Americans know this as Chavez's movement. But Filipino farmworkers started it. The manongs who walked out were not young firebrands — many were aging bachelors in their 50s and 60s who had spent decades in California's fields under laws that prevented interracial marriage and restrictions that kept their families in the Philippines. They had nothing left to lose. And they chose dignity.
The Delano Grape Strike lasted five years and won landmark contracts guaranteeing higher wages, rest breaks, health benefits, and pesticide protections for over 10,000 farmworkers. California officially recognizes October 25 as Larry Itliong Day. The Agbayani Village retirement home at Delano's Forty Acres — built by UFW volunteers — still stands as a monument to the manongs who gave everything to the movement.
→ Read the full California pillar page
→ Explore PinoyBuilt's Stockton coverage
Community & Culture Today
The Filipino American community in 2026 is not a single story. It is a mosaic of generations, geographies, and identities — from the fourth-generation family in Honolulu who has never left the islands to the nurse who landed at O'Hare last year, from the Ilocano-speaking retiree in Vallejo to the half-Filipino teenager in Houston who has never been to the Philippines but knows every word to a Bruno Mars song.
What holds it together: pagkain (food), pamilya (family), simbahan (church), and the quiet understanding that this community built something here that matters. Lechon at reunions. Karaoke at every party. Nurses on overnight shifts in every major hospital from Anchorage to Miami. Balikbayan boxes stacked in living rooms, packed with Spam and Knorr and Vicks VapoRub for cousins who will know exactly what it means.
Filipino Americans are predominantly Christian (74%), with a majority identifying as Catholic (57%) — the highest Catholic identification rate of any major Asian American group. The median household income is $100,600 — among the highest of any ethnic group in America. However, scholars note this often reflects multiple earners per household rather than individual affluence. In the 2024 election, voter turnout among Filipino Americans reached 63%, one of the highest rates among Asian American groups.
About 61% of Filipino Americans most often describe themselves as "Filipino" or "Filipino American." Only 13% most often call themselves simply "American," and 20% typically say "Asian American" or "Asian." The term Fil-Am — a shortening of Filipino American — has become one of the most recognizable identity markers in the diaspora. The word Pinoy (feminine: Pinay) first appeared in print in 1926 and is believed to have been coined by Filipinos in America to distinguish themselves from Filipinos in the homeland.
→ Read PinoyBuilt's community coverage
→ All Fil-Am coverage on PinoyBuilt
Notable Filipino Americans
Filipino Americans have shaped the United States — in law, labor, music, medicine, journalism, science, the military, and community. These are some of the names who represent the breadth of the Fil-Am story across all 50 states.
The man who lit the fuse of the American farmworker movement. Born in Pangasinan, Philippines, in 1913. Arrived in the United States as a teenager. Organized Filipino grape workers in Delano on September 7, 1965 — a date every Filipino American should know by heart. Convinced Cesar Chavez to join forces, leading to the formation of the United Farm Workers. California recognizes October 25 as Larry Itliong Day.
Second Vice-President of the United Farm Workers. A manong from Ilocos Sur who spent 40 years in California's fields before becoming one of the most principled labor voices in American history. Remained in Delano until his passing in 1994.
Author of America Is in the Heart (1946), the defining work of Filipino American literature. The semi-autobiographical novel chronicles the hardships of Filipino migrant workers — discrimination, poverty, and violence in California's agricultural fields — and remains a cornerstone of Asian American studies.
The first Filipino American governor in the United States. Born in Honolulu to immigrant parents from the Philippines, Cayetano rose from Kalihi public housing to the highest office in Hawaii — shattering the ceiling for Filipino Americans in elected leadership. Read PinoyBuilt's Hawaii coverage →
The first American with Filipino ancestry to serve as a voting member of Congress, elected in 1992. His maternal grandfather immigrated from the Philippines during the Spanish-American War era. Scott, who is also the first African American elected to Congress from Virginia since Reconstruction, represents the intersection of Black and Filipino American history — a story rarely told.
California's first Filipino American Attorney General and former Assemblyman. Grew up at UFW headquarters, the son of farmworker organizers. Authored the legislation creating Larry Itliong Day. A living bridge between the manong legacy and modern Fil-Am civic power. Read PinoyBuilt coverage →
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Tony-nominated theatrical producer, and the most prominent undocumented immigrant in America. Born in Antipolo, Philippines, Vargas arrived in the U.S. at age 12 and didn't learn of his undocumented status until age 16 at a California DMV. In 2011, he publicly revealed his status in the New York Times, sparking a national conversation on immigration. He founded Define American and co-produced Here Lies Love on Broadway — the first production with an all-Filipino cast. Mountain View named an elementary school after him.
The first female Physician to the President of the United States, serving under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. In 1994, she became the first female director of the White House Medical Unit. In 2000, she became the first Filipino American flag officer. Her career embodies the intersection of Filipino American military service and healthcare — the two pillars of Fil-Am professional life in America.
Born in Pangasinan, Philippines, in 1946. His father — a corporal in the 57th Infantry (Philippine Scouts) — survived the Bataan Death March and the Korean War as a prisoner of war. The younger Soriano grew up in Salinas, California, and became the first Filipino American general officer in 1995. His story bridges the WWII veteran generation to the modern Fil-Am military tradition.
A mess sergeant during the Battle of Bataan in 1942 who ran 1,000 yards under Japanese artillery fire to repair a destroyed cannon, organized volunteers, and fired back — a feat that helped repel the attack. In 1945, Calugas was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration.
Born Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson in Vallejo, California — PinoyBuilt's home city — H.E.R. is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning Filipina American artist whose music bridges R&B, soul, and Filipino pride. One of the most visible Fil-Am cultural ambassadors of her generation. Read PinoyBuilt coverage →
Born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu to a Filipino mother from Pangasinan. One of the best-selling artists in music history and one of the most prominent examples of Filipino American cultural influence at the global level. Read PinoyBuilt coverage →
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter of Filipino and Irish descent, raised in Temecula, California. One of the most celebrated young artists of her generation and a source of visible Fil-Am pride in mainstream culture. Read PinoyBuilt coverage →
The only eight-division world champion in boxing history and the most famous Filipino athlete on the planet. Pacquiao trained and fought out of Los Angeles for much of his career, becoming a cultural icon in both the Philippines and the Filipino American community. His fights were community events — bars and living rooms full of Pinoys watching their champion on the global stage. Read PinoyBuilt coverage →
Born Joseph Glenn Herbert in Tacoma, Washington, to a Filipina mother. One of the most commercially successful stand-up comedians in the world, known for routines centered on his Filipino American upbringing. Jo Koy brought Filipino American family dynamics to mainstream comedy in a way no performer had done before. Read PinoyBuilt coverage →
Born in San Francisco to a Filipina mother. The lead guitarist of Metallica — one of the highest-selling music acts of all time. Hammett is an example of Filipino American influence in spaces where the community is rarely seen or recognized.
One of the sharpest cultural essayists of her generation. Raised in Houston by Filipino immigrant parents. Her collection Trick Mirror (2019) was a bestseller and critical landmark. Tolentino represents the growing presence of Filipino Americans in American literary and intellectual life.
Second-generation Fil-Am, born and raised in Vallejo. Orpilla is the founder of the FANHS Vallejo Chapter, serves as FANHS National President, writes a column for the Vallejo Times-Herald, and authored Filipinos in Vallejo (Arcadia Publishing) — the definitive photographic history of the community. He also teaches Balintawak Arnis, a Filipino martial art, at the Island Warriors Dojo. Orpilla represents the grassroots historians and cultural preservationists who do the quiet, essential work of keeping the Fil-Am story alive at the local level. Read PinoyBuilt's Vallejo coverage →
The first Filipino American elected to the New York State Assembly, representing the 30th district in Queens. Raga's election signals the expanding political presence of Filipino Americans in states beyond the traditional strongholds of California and Hawaii — a new generation claiming civic space on the East Coast.
An estimated 4.6 million people in the United States identified as Filipino in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This includes those who identify as Filipino alone and those who identify as Filipino in combination with another race or ethnicity. Filipino Americans are the third-largest Asian American group in the country, accounting for approximately 19% of the Asian American population.
California is home to approximately 1.7 million Filipino Americans — roughly 38% of the total U.S. Filipino population. Hawaii, Texas, Washington, and Nevada follow. The Los Angeles metro area has the largest Filipino population of any metro area in the country, followed by San Francisco and New York.
The first documented Filipinos arrived in 1587, brought by Spanish galleons to present-day Morro Bay, California. The first permanent Filipino settlement was established at Saint Malo, Louisiana, in 1763 — thirteen years before the Declaration of Independence. Large-scale immigration began after the Spanish-American War (1898), when Filipinos were classified as U.S. nationals.
During the U.S. colonial period in the Philippines (1898–1946), the United States established an Americanized nursing curriculum in Filipino schools. After the Immigration Act of 1965 opened immigration to skilled professionals, Filipino nurses filled chronic shortages in American hospitals. Over 150,000 Filipino nurses have emigrated to the U.S. since the 1960s. Today, while Filipinos make up about 1% of the U.S. population, they comprise 4% of the nursing workforce.
October is officially designated as Filipino American History Month. It commemorates the first recorded arrival of Filipinos in the continental United States on October 18, 1587, at Morro Bay, California. The Filipino American National Historical Society first proposed the October designation in 1991, and Congress first formally recognized it in 2009.
The Fil-Am diaspora refers to Filipino Americans — people of Filipino descent living in the United States who maintain cultural, linguistic, and family ties to the Philippines while building lives in America. The United States is home to the largest Filipino diaspora community in the world. PinoyBuilt documents this diaspora experience — its history, its communities, its contradictions, and its pride.
Filipino farmworkers started the 1965 Delano Grape Strike, led by Larry Itliong and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). On September 7, 1965, more than 2,000 Filipino workers voted to strike the grape vineyards of Delano, California. Itliong then brought Cesar Chavez and the Mexican American NFWA into the movement 12 days later. The two groups merged to form the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1967.
In 2017, more than 70 years after the end of World War II, Filipino veterans who fought alongside American troops were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal — the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress. Over 260,000 Filipinos served under the American flag during WWII, but the Rescission Act of 1946 had stripped them of their promised veterans' benefits. The Congressional Gold Medal was a long-overdue recognition of their sacrifice.
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