Dramatic Increase in Cupertino's Indian Population

Figures released from the 2010 census indicate a dramatic increase in the Cupertino’s Indian American population.

According to the data, Indians—identified on the census as Asian, Indian—now constitute 22.6 percent of the population, an increase of 190 percent from the 2000 census.

The figures follow a consistent, though not steady, increase in the Indian population. In the 1990 census, 4 percent of Cupertino residents identified as Asian Indian. That number doubled in the 2000 census—8 percent—before settling to 22.6 percent in the most recent census.

Many attribute the influx of Indians into Cupertino to high property values and quality of public education in the city. Schools like , and consistently score high in the California state API scores.

Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong and City Public Affairs Director Rick Kitson said the changes in data are consistent with overall trends in Cupertino’s history.

Over the past 55 years, Cupertino has been an immigrant community, Kitson said, and the city population has been indicative of domestic and international economic trends.

According to Wong, the combined South and East Asian communities now constitute 64 percent of the city population and more than 70 percent of the public school population.

“To see the interaction of the Asian-American kids from all of over the continent, how the kids are working together and don’t see the racial divide, that’s different from when I was growing up in East San Jose,” Wong said.

Over the last 20 years, Kitson said he has seen the Indian American community integrate into Cupertino, whether as members of the Chamber of Commerce, employees of the city or as candidates for City Council.

And in many ways, Kitson said he has seen Indian culture become part of the mainstream Cupertino experience.

“(Diwali is) one of the festivals the kids celebrate at school," Kitson said. "There’s St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo, and there’s Diwali. That makes it such a natural extension of what’s going on in the community rather than a token gesture.”  

Still, some members of the Indian community believe Indians still have a long way to go.

Mahesh Nihalani, a Cupertino Rotarian and former head of the Asian American Business Council, said he would like to see Indians become more involved with community outreach initiatives, like the city’s Block Leaders program or on PTA boards for local schools.

“We need to be more actively involved,” he said. “I know it can be done.”