Iranian Americans make up a very small percentage of the

United States’ population—less than one half of 1%; yet their relatively

meager population is not a poor or isolated population within the US.

In fact, after reviewing statistical data and comparing it with the

general population of the US, one might concur that Iranians have

pursued and have succeeded further in the American dream than the

average American.

Born in the USA

The average American was very likely born in the United States,

as nearly 90% of all Americans surveyed in the 2000 Census were

identified themselves as born within US boundaries. Furthermore,

most Americans (about 60%) have not ventured far from their place of

birth, as 60% remained in the state in which they were born. Only

about 11% of all Americans were born outside the United States, and

Iranians’ contribution to this doesn’t even make a dent in this statistic.

While more Iranians were foreign-born (30% compared to 11%),

they have not migrated to the United States in large enough numbers

to make any kind of widespread impact in the US. However, because

most Iranians have migrated to just a few major US cities and stick

together to form neighborhoods with other Iranians, these populations

have impacted the cities where they settled. As seen in the map of the

United States, Iranians have largely found home in large states like

California, New York, Maryland and Virginia, but these populations are
very minute compared to the immigrant population of Chinese,

Japanese, and Eastern European immigrants that have settled in the

United States in the late 20th century.

The American Dream

While the population of Iranian Americans is minute, their

population has seemingly embraced aspects of American life better

than the average American. Iran’s political and economic systems—a

single industry (oil), theocratic regime—tend to prohibit free and

independent thinking while relying on government-provided services,

and this is largely due to the Islamic influence and power center of the

government. However, in the United States, Iranians have as much as

tripled the education level of the average American in ascertaining

professional degrees at a far higher rate than most Americans; and

households make nearly 20 thousand dollars more a year than their

American counterparts. These staggering statics indicate that the

Iranians coming to the United States are more likely to find jobs and

contribute positively to the US economy than can be expected of most

native-born Americans.

Iranians have found success in the United States, and while they

have excelled in education and monetary gain, their age, gender,

birthrate, and health remain on part with that of the general US

population. This provides further evidence that Iranians have adapted

American lifestyles, as these statistics differ greatly from that of the

population within Iran.

Iran1 Iranian
American
Median Age 27 years 36
Highest Level of 13 years 58%+ have post
Education maximum secondary
degrees
Unemployment 12.5 3%
Labor Force 36% 64.9%
Labor Force Jobs
Agriculture 25% .2%
Services 45% 9.5%
Manufacturing/Indus 30% 10.1%
try
Sales/Management n/a 80.8%

Not only do Iranian Americans achieve higher levels of education,

but they are also provided access to levels of education in the United

States that are inaccessible to the vast majority of Iranians. This, in

turn, has increased their likelihood of finding sales/management jobs

that do not require hard labor, and because Iranian Americans are

more educated, they also maintain a very low unemployment rate,

even compared to that of the rest of the United States.

1
Statistics compiled and measured from CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-
world-factbook/geos/IR.html
 There is no indication in what has brought Iranians to the United

States, though speculation or surveying might give some direction to

the question. Unfortunately there have been very few studies that

address these questions, and as long as the Iranian population remains

relatively low and does not greatly impact US cities, more telling

surveys are unlikely to provide answers in the near future.

Iranian-Americans have follow edthe general international

immigration patterns in which young adults and their children seek

new homes abroad, and further links to other immigration patterns can

be found in the larger male population (compared to women), brain

drain theory, and social network habits of the immigrant population in

the United States (McFalls, 17-19). Perhaps the Iranian migration

should be compared across other industrialized countries in Europe

and East Asia, as this would provide further evidence into the Iranian

immigration and how large it might be2.

Based on the economic and political motives of the Iranian

government, the brain drain theory seems to hold the most weight, as

the authoritarian Iranian government seems to limit the educational

and economic opportunities of its people. This would also might

explain why Iranian-Americans have ascertained higher degrees—

either they were the elites of Iran that escaped or they were so

repressed in Iran that they sought every educational opportunity once

2
CIA World Factbook indicates 2% of Iran’s population leaves the country annually
they immigrated.

These statistics paint the picture of an almost utopian Iranian

society within the United States—one that experiences high

unemployment in very desirable sectors of the economy. However,

the small size of the US Iranian population indicates that most

immigrants have been in the United States a very short time, and even

the Iranian-American population compared to Iran’s population is

minuscule at about half a percent. Furthermore, nearly a third of all US

Iranians were born abroad (Iran, presumably), further indicating the

Iranian migration as a relatively new phenomenon.

Because their population is small and very skilled, Iranians must

have limited access to immigration to the United States; additionally,

the United States’ immigration policies limit the influx of new

immigrants into the country. This combination of immigration patterns

and government policies have yielded an unusually intelligent,

productive, and affluent population within the United States. Yet while

Iranian Americans average higher incomes, are more educated, live in

more expensive houses, and speak less English, compared to the rest

of America, they continue to share many commonalities; this includes

(but is not limited to) average family size, percentage in the workforce,

and continue to have similar problems with facing poverty.

While the statistics of Iran’s American immigrants tell many

stories and form many patterns akin to other studies, there remains no
true study of the US Iranian population. For this reason, the population

statistics can only provide speculation, and the US Iranian population

can be regarded a successful, productive member pursuer of the

American Dream.

On a side note, the inclusion of Arab data in this project was

done out of necessity, but Arabs make up only about 3% of Iran’s

population. Additionally, the majority population (at just over 50%) is

Persian, though Azeri, Gilaki, Mazandarani, and Kurdish3 populations

make up a greater portion of Iran’s population than the Arab

population. Furthermore, because of the demography of Iran, it might

be fair to question the definition of Iranian-American, other than

someone born in Iran, as several ethnicities are scattered throughout

the country. This seems to be an increasing issue with national

identity in an increasingly globalized or regionalized world, and this

project reinforced the idea of an increasingly global community, as

ethnic identity becomes further dispersed across geographic lines.

3
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/IR.html
 Socio-economic and demographic factors of an ethnic group,
compared to the U.S. Population, 2000

VARIABLE IRANIAN GROUP UNITED STATES

Total Population (2000) 338,266 282,421,906

Born in the United States 30.6% 88%
Median Age 36 35.4 years
Average Family Size 3.38 3.14

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT (Population 25 years

and older)
High School graduate 13.7% 28.6%
Bachelor’s degree 29.7% 15.5%
Master’s degree 27.5% 8.9%

ECONOMIC STATUS
Median Household Income (1999) 59,912 41,994
% families below poverty level 8.1% 9.2%
% in labor force ( 16 yrs & older) 64.9 63.9

OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE (Population 16 yrs +)

Management, professional etc. 52.8% 33.5%
Service occupations 9.5% 14.9%
Sales & office occupations 28.0% 26.7%
Construction, extraction & 3.9% 9.4%
maintenance
Production, Transportation 5.8% 14.6%

LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME (Population 5 years +)

Speak only English 19.6% 82.1%
Speak English less than “very 28.9% 8.1%
well”

HOUSING
Own home 58.7% 66.2
Median value of home $268,100 $119,600

From the US Census Bureau’s American Factfinder

 From the US Census Bureau’s American Factfinder:
Arab population in the United States—Percentage of Persons of Arab
Ancestry, 2000 Census
From the US Census Bureau’s American Factfinder