**Abstract** Within sociolinguistic research on English variation, Asian and Pacific Islander North Americans (APINAs) are frequently described as an “understudied population” due to the relative lack of published studies that analyze their linguistic practices (Reyes and Lo 2009, Hall-Lew 2010, Wolfram and Schilling 2015). However, APINAs are a large, diverse group; as research centering these populations increase, it is important to clarify details of what or who, specifically, is understudied in order to guide future research. This structured literature review characterizes the state of the field from a variationist perspective, surveying both published and unpublished studies that focus on English variation in APINA communities from the past seventy years. Based on a systematic database search, we report on 71 research contributions that study the English of APINA populations using a variationist sociolinguistic approach. To profile the extent and distribution of APINA variationist underrepresentation, we consider when studies were published or presented, which linguistic variables were analyzed, where the populations were located geographically, and which ethnic groups were studied. We find that studies on APINAs have become more common particularly in the last decade. The vast majority of studies tend toward analysis of segmental phonetic and phonological variation, such as vowels implicated in on-going changes. Studies that examine morpho-syntactic, lexico-semantic, or pragmatic variation, on the other hand, number in the single digits. Furthermore, different groups are represented unevenly in the existing literature. East Asian groups are commonly represented in the literature in contrast to South Asian groups, despite their relatively equal numbers in the general North American population. Moreoever, most APINA variationist studies are carried out in populous urban centers, such as California, New York, and Ontario, while various other locations with significant APINA populations, such as Florida, Illinois, and Alberta, are absent. Based on these trends, we recommend several directions for future APINA English research, including more research targeting certain cities and non-metropolitan areas, more research performed by and for the specific ethnic groups that are underrepresented (within the already-understudied APINA category), and more research that focuses on variables beyond phonetic and phonological. We connect the need for broader and deeper research on APINA English variation to both the parallel need for more research into the perception of “Asian speech”, as well as to the importance of continuing to center racialized and marginalized voices in the variationist enterprise (Rosa and Flores 2017). Our findings are accompanied by [a searchable database][1] of 71 papers and presentations that represent unique contributions to the field of APINA English variation, which we plan to release for public research use. [1]: https://mfr.osf.io/render?url=https://osf.io/download/633f01c131d6530d2f2dd14d/