Abstract Background Central obesity is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases. The prevalence of central obesity has not been reported fully among Asian adults in the United States (US). Methods Cross-sectional data of 1288 Asian adults aged 20 years or over was selected from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with a stratified multi-stage sampling design. The prevalence of central obesity was calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and Chi-square tests were conducted to test the significance of the prevalence differences across characteristic groups. Results The overall prevalence of central obesity among US Asian adults was 58.1% in 2011–2014. The prevalence of central obesity was higher in older adults (73.5%) than in young adults (45.4%) (p