Costa Rican Population in United States by State : 2025 Ranking & Insights

According to U.S. Census estimates, all 50 states and the District of Columbia report a measurable Costa Rican population, totaling 181,635 nationwide. California leads with 28,501 residents, followed by Florida (27,889) and New Jersey (24,048). This ranking examines how Costa Rican communities are distributed across the entire United States, highlighting regional patterns, cultural concentrations, and state-level differences.

Top 5 states with the largest Costa Rican population in United States

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  • 1
    California
    Costa Rican population in California is 28,501
    0.07% of California population is Costa Rican
  • 2
    Florida
    Costa Rican population in Florida is 27,889
    0.13% of Florida population is Costa Rican
  • 3
    New Jersey
    Costa Rican population in New Jersey is 24,048
    0.26% of New Jersey population is Costa Rican
  • 4
    New York
    Costa Rican population in New York is 12,838
    0.06% of New York population is Costa Rican
  • 5
    Texas
    Costa Rican population in Texas is 11,650
    0.04% of Texas population is Costa Rican

U.S. States by Costa Rican Population : National Rankings

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show Costa Rican populations present across states nationwide, with the largest counts in California, Florida, New Jersey, and New York. The table below provides additional context, including total population, population density, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for all states included in this analysis*.
states in United States ranked by Costa Rican population count
Rank by Costa Rican Population
State
Costa Rican Population
% of Total State Population
% of Total United States Costa Rican Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 California 28,501 0.07% 15.69%
2 Florida 27,889 0.13% 15.35%
3 New Jersey 24,048 0.26% 13.24%
4 New York 12,838 0.06% 7.07%
5 Texas 11,650 0.04% 6.41%
6 North Carolina 6,709 0.06% 3.69%
7 Georgia 6,391 0.06% 3.52%
8 4,886 0.07% 2.69%
9 4,525 0.03% 2.49%
10 4,066 0.11% 2.24%
11 3,880 0.06% 2.14%
12 3,791 0.04% 2.09%
13 2,981 0.04% 1.64%
14 2,980 0.02% 1.64%
15 2,886 0.06% 1.59%
16 2,767 0.05% 1.52%
17 2,735 0.04% 1.51%
18 2,670 0.06% 1.47%
19 2,659 0.02% 1.46%
20 1,972 0.06% 1.09%
21 1,968 0.04% 1.08%
22 1,702 0.02% 0.94%
23 1,523 0.03% 0.84%
24 1,471 0.02% 0.81%
25 1,269 0.04% 0.70%
26 1,147 0.02% 0.63%
27 948 0.01% 0.52%
28 938 0.09% 0.52%
29 869 0.13% 0.48%
30 865 0.02% 0.48%
31 840 0.01% 0.46%
32 811 0.02% 0.45%
33 746 0.02% 0.41%
34 590 0.03% 0.32%
35 544 0.01% 0.30%
36 506 0.03% 0.28%
37 468 0.02% 0.26%
38 460 0.02% 0.25%
39 453 0.01% 0.25%
40 416 0.03% 0.23%
41 405 0.03% 0.22%
42 369 0.02% 0.20%
43 367 0.02% 0.20%
44 295 0.03% 0.16%
45 160 0.02% 0.09%
46 159 0.02% 0.09%
47 130 0.01% 0.07%
48 128 0.02% 0.07%
49 26 0.00% 0.01%
50 21 0.00% 0.01%
Need the complete table? Full rankings and the underlying data sets for California and other locations are available for purchase or license.

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 state in United States by their Costa Rican population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Costa Rican population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Costa Rican ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as Costa Rican alone, while others identify as Costa Rican along with another race (such as Costa Rican and German).
  • We’ve used the “Costa Rican alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Costa Rican population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Costa Rican alone or in combination in state. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total State Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Costa Rican .
  2. % of Total United States Costa Rican Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Costa Rican 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 Costa Rican 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.
  • State that don’t have any reported Costa Rican 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 Costa Rican populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.