[1] The majority of American Hindus are immigrants, mainly from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Caribbean, with a minority from Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Canada, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and other countries.

Many concepts of Hinduism, such as meditation, karma, ayurveda, reincarnation, and yoga, have been adopted into mainstream American beliefs and lifestyles.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey of 2009, 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation, a core concept of Hinduism.

According to the Pew Research Center, 9% of Hindus in United States belong to a non-Asian ethnicity: White (4%), Black (2%), Latino (1%) and mixed (2%).

[27] In 2008, according to Pew Research Center, 80% of American adults who were raised as Hindus continued to adhere to Hinduism, which is the highest retention rate for any religion in America.

[22] Anandibai Joshi is believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American soil, arriving in New York in June 1883 at the age of 19.

[31] Swami Vivekananda's address to the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 was one of the first major discussions of Hinduism in the United States.

[33] The first wave of Hindu diaspora in America was predominantly Punjabi Sikhs, who migrated to the West Coast in the early 20th century due to economic hardships in India.

Sentiments intensified through organisations like the Asiatic Exclusion League and widespread media portrayal of an alleged "Hindoo invasion.

[35] People involved in the counter-culture such as Ram Dass, George Harrison, and Allen Ginsberg were influential in the spread of Hinduism in the United States.

Ram Dass was a Harvard professor known as Richard Alpert who traveled to India in 1967 and studied under Neem Karoli Baba.

Harrison started to record songs with the words "Hari Krishna" in the lyrics and was widely responsible for popularizing Hinduism in America in the 1960s and 1970s.

Allen Ginsberg, the author of Howl, was heavily involved with Hinduism in the 1960s and it was said that he chanted "Om" at The Human Be-in of 1967 for hours on end.

Other influential Indians of Hindu faith in counter-culture movement are Mata Amritanandamayi, Chinmoy and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

[40] In September 2000, a joint session of Congress was opened with a prayer in Sanskrit (with some Hindi and English added), by Venkatachalapathi Samudrala to honor the visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

[43] In October 2009, President Barack Obama lit a ceremonial Diwali lamp at the White House to symbolize victory of light over darkness.

In April 2009, President Obama appointed Anju Bhargava, a management consultant and pioneer community builder, to serve as a member of his inaugural Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership.

[46] In the recent years, the political participation of Indian-Americans has increased with Vivek Ramaswamy being Hindu of Indian-background running for position of president in the 2024 elections from Republican Party, though he later endorsed Donald Trump.

[52] The Maha Vallabha Ganapathi Devastanam, owned by the Hindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing, New York, was consecrated on July 4, 1977.

[63] Parashakthi Temple[64] in Pontiac, Michigan, is a tirtha peetham for Goddess "Shakthi," or the "Great Divine Mother" in Hinduism.

[87] The incident, which took place at the Hari Om Radha Krishna Mandir in the Parkway neighborhood of Sacramento, was condemned by the Coalition of Hindus of North America as a potential hate crime.

The proceedings were interrupted by three self-professed Christian protestors, who were arrested by Capitol Police and charged with a misdemeanor for disrupting Congress.

[95] The conservative Christian group American Family Association objected to the prayer,[96] citing the loss of the "Judeo-Christian foundations" of the United States.

[98] Points of contention included a textbook's portrayal of the caste system, the Indo-Aryan migration theory, and the status of women in Indian society.