Asians have now taken over Latinos as the largest group of new

Asians have now taken over Latinos as the largest group of new arrivals every year.

In 2010, 36% of new immigrants were Asians compared to 31% for Hispanics, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.

That’s a significant change from a decade ago, when 19% of immigrants were Asians and 59% were Hispanics.

If the trends continue, Asian-Americans will play greater roles in shaping American society and perhaps, more significantly in an election year, they will have an impact at the polls.

Pew’s exhaustive new report on Asian-Americans found important differences between Asian-Americans and other population groups in America. It also shed light on the diversity among Asian-Americans, who sometimes cringe at the broadness of the category that covers every country of origin from Afghanistan to South Korea.

The Pew survey showed that across the board, Asian-Americans are more satisfied than any other Americans with their lives, finances and direction of the country.

They also place more value on traditional marriage, family and parenthood and usually possess a strong work ethic.

Nearly seven in 10 respondents said people could get ahead if they are willing to work hard. And 93% of Asian-Americans describe people of their origin as “very hard-working,” whereas only 57% said the same about Americans as a whole.

Asian-Americans also attain college degrees (61%) at about double the rate of recent non-Asian immigrants (30%), Pew found.

However, some Asian-Americans recognize that they may go overboard in stressing hard work.

As a whole, Pew found Asian median income and household wealth exceeded average Americans.

Asian median annual household income is $66,000 versus $49,800 for all Americans.

Read the entire report at www.pewresearch.org.