Lao Americans in Tennessee
Tennessee: Lao community profile
Live data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, with community indicators across population, income, education, language, health, and housing.
Lao population (state)
582
ACS 2022 B04006
State population
6,923,772
All residents
Counties with Lao residents
25
ACS B04006
National rank
Featured
Community partner state
Community at a glance
ACS 5-year estimates (2022). Where Lao-specific data is unavailable, Asian-alone is used as a proxy and labeled accordingly.
Asian median household income
$94,058
State median: $64,035
Bachelor's or higher (Asian)
27.7%
State college rate: 27.8%
Less than HS (Asian)
46.0%
Asian-alone proxy
Asian poverty rate
8.9%
State: 14.0%
Homeownership (Asian)
60.1%
Renters: 39.9%
Linguistic isolation (API speakers)
7.2%
Speak English less than 'very well'
Top counties by Lao population
Live from Census ACS B04006. Counties with at least one Lao-ancestry respondent.
| County | Lao population |
|---|---|
| Williamson County | 149 |
| Jefferson County | 67 |
| Davidson County | 51 |
| Hamilton County | 47 |
| Rutherford County | 44 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates (2022), Table B04006.
Community context
Who, where, and how — in Tennessee.
Community-partnered narrative. Updates as partnerships evolve.
Tennessee's Lao community settled primarily in Nashville and Memphis beginning in the late 1970s and 1980s, with strong temple networks and a focus on cultural preservation. A growing cohort of Lao youth researchers leads local data and storytelling projects.
Key community hubs
NashvilleMemphisKnoxvilleChattanooga
Partner organizations
- Tennessee Office for Refugees (regional)
- Lao Buddhist temple networks
- Lao youth researcher cohort (capacity-building program)
Research focus areas
- Cultural preservation & language transmission
- Youth-led community research methods
- Refugee-origin civic engagement in the South
Explore the data
Full dashboard →Dive into the live ACS indicators powering this page.