Visualization of where Central Asians are settling in U.S.

Central Asia / Photo: Shutterstock

Different migration waves from Central Asia have shaped distinct settlement patterns across the U.S., with each country forming its own regional hubs rather than a single, uniform diaspora. That’s according to an analysis by Nurasyl Abdrazakuly, a Kazakh data scientist and frequent contributor to our infographics.

Below is a visualization by Nurasyl mapping people who moved from Central Asia to the U.S. on a permanent basis.

Most common Central Asian nationality in the U.S. / Visual by Nurasyl Abdrazakuly, photo editor: Adelina Mamedova

The map shows which Central Asian nationality has the highest absolute number of residents in each U.S. state, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Breakdown by number of states:

Kazakhstan-born: 30 states. The dominant group across much of the Midwest, South, West Coast and Northeast. Turkmenistan-born: 14 states. Strong regional clusters, particularly in parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Mountain West. Uzbekistan-born: 2 states. Localized dominance in specific regions. Kyrgyzstan-born: 2 states. Highly concentrated, with dominance in low-population states. Tajikistan-born: 1 state. Single-state dominance, reflecting a very localized presence.

Notably, Central Asian nations were also recently affected by the Trump administration’s sweeping visa halt involving 75 countries.