A recent Puget Sound Trend reveals that Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) residents in the central Puget Sound region have among the highest shares of living in car-free households.
According to the Public Use Microdata Sample Census data from 2021, AAPI residents of the central Puget Sound region have a share of about 7% of car-free households.
Almost of a quarter of the 200,000 residents in the region who do not have a car are people of AAPI descent. Even though Asian American and Pacific Islander residents have one of the highest shares of car-free commuting, due to the pandemic and the increase in telework, their share of transit has decreased.
Since the pandemic, AAPI telework has increased eightfold from less than 5% in 2019 to 38% in 2021.The transit commute mode has decreased by nine percentage points, down to less than 7%.
While transit commuting has decreased, drive commuting has increased by 8%. King and Snohomish counties have the lowest share in the region, with 81% and 92%, respectively.
Data also reveals a stratification between the levels of telework for the 10 most populous AAPI groups in the central Puget Sound region. AAPI groups with the fewest telework opportunities are also the most likely to be drive commuters.
This disproportion is amplified by the difference in median income across the various AAPI groups. The groups with the fewest telework opportunities earn lower wages than the groups with higher telework opportunities.
Check out our teleworker report and the Puget Sound Trend to discover more about commuting habits and the diversity of experiences within the AAPI community.