Telugu Americans

Telugu Americans

అమెరికా తెలుగువారు Amerikā Teluguvāru
The spread of the Telugu language in the United States according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
Total population
1,239,000
Regions with significant populations
Central New Jersey Northern Virginia New York City Delaware Valley Massachusetts San Francisco Bay Area Georgia Michigan Washington North Carolina Minnesota Maryland Ohio Texas Triangle Chicago metro area Greater Los Angeles
Languages
Predominantly: Telugu American English
Religion
Predominantly: Hinduism Minority: Christianity, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Telugu people Indian Americans South Indians

Telugu Americans (Telugu: అమెరికా తెలుగువారు, romanized: Amerikā Teluguvāru) are citizens of the United States of America who belong to the Telugu linguistic group. The majority of Telugu Americans can trace their roots back to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, but also from other neighboring states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra, among others.

Immigration to United States

Historically, many Telugu immigrants to the United States during the 20th century hailed from the Krishna and Godavari delta regions of the former Madras Presidency, and later, from Andhra Pradesh.

The Telugu American population in the United States numbered around 87,543 in the year 2000. In 2010, the population surged to 222,977, then to 415,414 in 2017, 644,700 in 2020, and finally nearly doubling to around 1,239,000 in 2024. The immense growth in the 2020s was the result of an influx of students and corporate employees from Telugu states post COVID-19. It is also estimated that by 2030, the Telugu population may cross two million, potentially making Telugu the most spoken Indian language in the nation.

The rise in the Telugu American population is attributed to the increasing representation of South Indian diaspora in the technological field, especially following the Y2K incident. In fact, the Brookings Institution Report revealed that the Telugu states sent over 26,000 students between 2008 and 2012, with most pursuing degrees in STEM fields.

Dispersion

Telugu people constitute one of the largest groups of Indian Americans. The majority of Telugu Americans live in metropolitan areas with significant economic importance in STEM fields. These areas include the Bay Area, the Texas Triangle, Delaware Valley, Chicagoland, Central Jersey, Northern Virginia, as well as the Seattle and Baltimore metropolitan areas. Smaller, but significant populations of Telugu Americans exist throughout the country in other metropolitan and micropolitan areas of almost every state. These include Greater Boston, Kansas City, Metro Detroit, Greater Cleveland, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

Religion

The predominant faith among Telugu Americans is Hinduism, with a significant number also identifying as Christians, and a smaller portion as Muslims.

Language

A recent study by the American Center for Immigration Studies showed Telugu as the fastest growing language in United States, which has grown by 86% in the last seven years.

During the 2020 United States elections, the Telugu language was first listed on voter registration and ballot boxes in select locales.

Serial No	The states with the highest percentages of Telugu speakers
	State	Percentage (%)
1	New Jersey	0.35
2	Delaware	0.25
3	Virginia	0.25
4	Connecticut	0.18
5	Illinois	0.17
6	Texas	0.16
7	California	0.15
8	Maryland	0.15
9	Georgia	0.14
10	New Hampshire	0.13
11	Washington	0.13
12	Massachusetts	0.13
13	Kansas	0.13
14	Michigan	0.12
15	Minnesota	0.11
16	North Carolina	0.10
17	Arizona	0.10
18	Pennsylvania	0.09
19	Ohio	0.07

The states with the highest percentages of Telugu speakers are:

Notable Telugu Americans

Government, politics, and philanthropy

• Upendra J. Chivukula, Democratic politician who currently serves as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities after serving more than 12 years in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he had been the Deputy Speaker
• Narayana Kocherlakota, Economist, former president of Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
• Kris Kolluri, Commissioner of Transportation, New Jersey
• Aruna Miller, Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, former member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 15 in Montgomery County, Maryland
• Sashi Reddy, Entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist
• Usha Vance, Second Lady of the United States.
• Vinai Thummalapally, Executive Chairman of Red Fort Strategies, U.S. ambassador to Belize (2009–2013)

Medicine, science, and technology

• C. R. Rao, A prominent statistician
• Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
• Raj Reddy, Computer scientist, founder of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, winner of Turing Award
• Vijaya Gadde, Business executive and former global lead of legal, policy, and trust at Twitter
• Yellapragada Subbarao, Indian biochemist who discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate as an energy source in the cell
• Neeli Bendapudi, president of Penn State University, former president of University of Louisville
• Ravi V. Bellamkonda, Vinik Dean of Engineering at Duke University's Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering
• Dabeeru C. Rao, Director of the Division of Biostatistics at Washington University School of Medicine
• G. S. Maddala, Mathematician and economist best known for work in the field of econometrics
• J. N. Reddy, Professor and holder of the Oscar S. Wyatt Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University
• Satya N. Atluri, Professor of mechanical & aerospace engineering at University of California, Irvine
• Balamurali Ambati, American ophthalmologist, educator, and researcher. On May 19, 1995, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's youngest doctor.
• Vamsi K. Mootha, Physician-scientist, investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor of Systems Biology and of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
• Rao Remala, First Indian employee at Microsoft
• E. Premkumar Reddy, Molecular biologist/Molecular oncology. Director of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics program and Professor in the Departments of Oncological Sciences and Structural and Chemical Biology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
• V. Mohan Reddy, Pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Stanford University
• Seshagiri Mallampati, Anesthesiologist who invented the Mallampati score for measuring the ease of endotracheal intubation
• Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, Control theorist
• Dattatreyudu Nori, Vice Chairman of the Radiation Oncologist Department at The New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City
• Sirisha Bandla, Second India-born woman to go to space through Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission
• Ramani Durvasula, Clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at California State University, Los Angeles. Her practice and research deals with narcissism and its impact on relationships and society as a whole.

Activism, arts, literature, and media

• Samina Ali, Author, feminist, and activist
• Vijaya Lakshmi Emani, Social activist, posthumously awarded Presidential Citizens Medal
• Saagar Enjeti, Co-host of Breaking Points and The Hill
• Uma Pemmaraju, Anchor and host on the Fox News Channel cable network
• Aneesh Chaganty, Film director
• Siddharth Katragadda, Screenwriter, film director, poet, writer, and painter
• Ashok Kondabolu, DJ, rapper, former member of hip-hop group Das Racist
• Hari Kondabolu, Stand-up comedian
• Aparna Nancherla, Comedian, actress, and voice actor of Hollyhock on Netflix show BoJack Horseman
• Rushi Kota, Actor
• Sarayu Rao, Actress
• Aryan Simhadri, Actor
• Ajay Naidu, Actor
• Varun Sandesh, Actor
• Adivi Sesh, Actor, director, and writer
• Akash Vukoti, TV personality
• Raja Kumari, Singer
• Vivek Maddala, Emmy-winning composer, recording artist and engineer
• 6ix (record producer), Grammy award winning music producer for rapper Logic (rapper)
• Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014
• Pratima Yarlagadda, Miss Indiana and finalist in Miss USA (1999)
• Shobu Yarlagadda, Environmental engineer and film producer
• Sreeleela, Actress
• Avantika Vandanapu, Actress
• Danny Pudi, Comedian and actor
• Bhaskar Sunkara, Founder and editor of Jacobin, an American socialist magazine

Sports

• Laxmi Poruri, Tennis player
• Kumar Rocker, Baseball player
• Arjun Nimmala, Baseball player
• James Blackmon Jr., Basketball player
• Sahith Theegala, Professional golfer

Social issues

Telugu Americans have suffered from hate crimes in America. The most notable of these incidents was the 2017 Olathe, Kansas shooting, in which a white supremacist, Adam Purinton, harassed two Telugu immigrants, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, under the pretense that they were Iranians and or illegal immigrants. Purinton proceeded to shoot them, killing Kuchibhotla and wounding Madasani, as well as Ian Grillot, a White American who had come to their defense.

Aishwarya Thatikonda, a Telugu immigrant from Hyderabad, and Dallas resident, was a victim of the 2023 Allen, Texas outlet mall shooting.