OCT. 20, 2022 — Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released a demographic profile of American Samoa from the 2020 Island Areas Censuses. The demographic profile provides basic demographic, social, economic and housing characteristics for American Samoa and lower levels of geography. 

In 2020, America Samoa’s population was 49,710. The profile released today provides demographic characteristics about the population, including information on racial and ethnic composition.

• The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population was the largest race group, with 44,090 people identifying as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone. Overall, 46,233 people reported Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone or in combination with another race group, such as Asian.
  • The Samoan population was the largest detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander group.
    • In 2020, 41,382 people identified as Samoan alone with no additional detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander group or race group.
    • In 2020, 44,461 people identified as Samoan alone or in any combination with another detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander group or race group, such as Tongan or Asian.
• The Asian population was the second-largest race group, with 2,878 people identifying as Asian alone. Overall, 3,899 people reported Asian alone or in combination with another race group, such as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.
  • The Filipino population was the largest detailed Asian group.
    • In 2020, 1,699 people identified as Filipino alone with no additional detailed Asian group or race group.
• The next largest race groups were White alone, Some Other Race alone, Black or African American alone, and American Indian and Alaska Native alone.
• The Multiracial population (also referred to as the Two or More Races population) was 2,192.
• The Hispanic or Latino (of any race) population was 406.

It is important to note that comparisons between the 2020 and 2010 race and ethnicity data should be made with caution. This decade, the Census Bureau improved the Hispanic origin and race questions and how it codes responses. The differences in the overall racial distributions relative to the 2010 data are largely because of these questionnaire and data processing improvements as well as some demographic changes. More information is available in the subject definitions for race and Hispanic origin in the technical documentation.

Among the social characteristics, the 2020 Island Areas Censuses collected information about school enrollment, educational attainment, place of birth, and language spoken at home.

The 2020 Island Areas Censuses provide a variety of economic characteristics for American Samoa, including statistics on income and poverty. Income questions on the census asked about income for the prior calendar year.

• Median household income in American Samoa did not show much change from $28,539 (in 2019 inflation-adjusted dollars) in 2009 to $28,352 in 2019.
• The percentage of families in poverty in American Samoa declined from 54.4% in 2009 to 50.7% in 2019.

Among the housing characteristics, the 2020 Island Areas Censuses provide information on homeownership and household size.

• The homeownership rate in American Samoa was 71.1% in 2020, down slightly from 73.3% in 2010.
• The average household size in American Samoa decreased from 6.00 in 2010 to 4.96 in 2020.

The 2020 Island Areas Censuses also collected information about computer and internet use, including type of computer devices, internet subscription status, and type of internet service.

• Among all households in American Samoa, 92.0% had at least one type of computer and 69.0% had a broadband internet subscription.

More information about computer and internet use is available in the “America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers” article 2020 Island Areas Censuses: Computer and Internet Use.

While the 2020 Island Areas Censuses operation was successful, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the quality of the detailed social, economic and housing characteristic data for American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To ensure the Census Bureau’s high data quality standards are met, adjustments were made to data products reporting population and housing characteristics.

American Samoa data tables reporting social and economic characteristics do not include the group quarters population in the table universe. As a result, impacted 2020 data tables should not be compared to 2010 and other past census data tables reporting the same characteristics. The Census Bureau advises data users to verify table universes are the same before comparing data across census years. Additional guidance for data users using the Island Area characteristic data is available in the Guidance on Using Data from the 2020 Island Areas Censuses fact sheet.

The 2020 Island Areas Censuses provide a wide range of demographic, social, economic and housing information to meet the U.S. Island Areas’ data needs. Other surveys, such as the American Community Survey (ACS), are not conducted in the Island Areas. Therefore, the Census Bureau used a long-form census questionnaire similar to the ACS questionnaire used in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. 

The Census Bureau previously released population and housing counts for American Samoa from the 2020 Island Areas Censuses and plans to release additional demographic, social, economic and housing characteristics in July 2023. More information is available on the 2020 Island Areas Censuses Data Products webpage.