2025

Cities in San Mateo County, CA ranked by Asian Population

This list ranks the 20 cities in San Mateo County based on their Asian population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these cities over the past five years.
Updated Jan 24, 2025

Top 5 cities with the largest Asian population in San Mateo County

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  • 1
    Daly City
    Asian population in Daly City is 62,577
    55.04% of Daly City population is Asian
  • 2
    San Mateo
    Asian population in San Mateo is 32,291
    27.29% of San Mateo population is Asian
  • 3
    South San Francisco
    Asian population in South San Francisco is 29,544
    40.13% of South San Francisco population is Asian
  • 4
    Foster City
    Asian population in Foster City is 19,325
    53.44% of Foster City population is Asian
  • 5
    Redwood City
    Asian population in Redwood City is 17,867
    18.49% of Redwood City population is Asian

List of 20 cities in San Mateo County, CA by Asian Population

View Methodology
Rank by Asian Population
City
Asian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total San Mateo County Asian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Daly City 62,577 55.04% 25.48%
2 San Mateo 32,291 27.29% 13.15%
3 South San Francisco 29,544 40.13% 12.03%
4 Foster City 19,325 53.44% 7.87%
5 Redwood City 17,867 18.49% 7.28%
6 San Bruno 15,532 31.63% 6.32%
7 Millbrae 11,806 47.57% 4.81%
8 10,080 23.11% 4.10%
9 9,528 28.57% 3.88%
10 9,525 31.15% 3.88%
11 8,594 25.24% 3.50%
12 7,361 19.82% 3.00%
13 4,256 34.62% 1.73%
14 1,839 5.59% 0.75%
15 1,731 31.66% 0.70%
16 1,639 21.33% 0.67%
17 690 5.01% 0.28%
18 517 9.16% 0.21%
19 466 9.80% 0.19%
20 413 23.68% 0.17%

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks cities in San Mateo County, CA by their Asian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Asian Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Asian, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Asian alone, while others identify as Asian along with another race (such as Asian and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Asian .
  • We’ve used the “Asian alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Asian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Asian alone or in combination in cities. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Asian .
  2. % of Total San Mateo County Asian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Asian population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Asian populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Cities that don’t have any reported Asian population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Asian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.