2025

Counties in California ranked by White Population

This list ranks the 55 counties in California based on their White population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest White population in California

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  • 1
    Los Angeles County
    White population in Los Angeles County is 5,010,533
    43.21% of Los Angeles County population is White
  • 2
    San Diego County
    White population in San Diego County is 2,298,056
    58.67% of San Diego County population is White
  • 3
    Orange County
    White population in Orange County is 1,911,509
    52.18% of Orange County population is White
  • 4
    Riverside County
    White population in Riverside County is 1,457,907
    49.60% of Riverside County population is White
  • 5
    San Bernardino County
    White population in San Bernardino County is 1,232,960
    47.07% of San Bernardino County population is White

List of 55 counties in California by White Population

View Methodology
Rank by White Population
County
White Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total California White Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Los Angeles County 5,010,533 43.21% 21.62%
2 San Diego County 2,298,056 58.67% 9.91%
3 Orange County 1,911,509 52.18% 8.25%
4 Riverside County 1,457,907 49.60% 6.29%
5 San Bernardino County 1,232,960 47.07% 5.32%
6 Sacramento County 931,428 51.09% 4.02%
7 Santa Clara County 865,407 39.79% 3.73%
8 690,133 37.11% 2.98%
9 659,829 64.43% 2.85%
10 655,589 48.62% 2.83%
11 635,072 57.00% 2.74%
12 623,383 50.44% 2.69%
13 433,829 44.62% 1.87%
14 419,146 44.87% 1.81%
15 404,747 58.28% 1.75%
16 389,128 45.99% 1.68%
17 376,494 67.43% 1.62%
18 346,347 73.73% 1.49%
19 341,015 61.82% 1.47%
20 301,401 51.82% 1.30%
21 248,582 47.32% 1.07%
22 244,449 74.98% 1.05%
23 213,401 42.75% 0.92%
24 208,377 72.32% 0.90%
25 201,538 66.04% 0.87%
26 176,485 74.54% 0.76%
27 170,826 80.65% 0.74%
28 164,620 80.88% 0.71%
29 152,280 59.50% 0.66%
30 133,889 41.44% 0.58%
31 115,328 74.96% 0.50%
32 100,148 54.09% 0.43%
33 99,675 43.65% 0.43%
34 99,636 63.57% 0.43%
35 97,286 51.23% 0.42%
36 96,843 86.05% 0.42%
37 76,896 72.25% 0.33%
38 64,648 55.80% 0.28%
39 63,238 63.97% 0.27%
40 55,284 72.48% 0.24%
41 54,633 70.99% 0.24%
42 50,770 57.19% 0.22%
43 49,934 83.01% 0.22%
44 42,126 82.21% 0.18%
45 39,500 80.46% 0.17%
46 36,513 78.02% 0.16%
47 25,774 72.15% 0.11%
48 21,315 69.62% 0.09%
49 21,184 64.39% 0.09%
50 18,566 87.27% 0.08%
51 15,463 58.54% 0.07%
52 14,730 68.23% 0.06%
53 11,795 76.84% 0.05%
54 7,747 81.93% 0.03%
55 2,558 90.71% 0.01%

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 counties in California by their White population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines White 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 White, 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 White alone, while others identify as White along with another race (such as White and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and White .
  • We’ve used the “White alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the White population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as White alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as White .
  2. % of Total California White Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. White 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 White 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.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported White 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 White 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.