Italian Population in Orange County, CA by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Italian population in Orange County, CA is recorded at 117,191 residents, based on the latest U.S. Census estimates. Each city in Orange County, CA has some Italian population, but the county''s higher total suggests additional rural or non-municipal representation. The analysis below explores how Italian communities are spread across Orange County, CA and comparable counties throughout California.

Top 5 cities with the largest Italian population in Orange County

View All
  • 1
    Huntington Beach
    Italian population in Huntington Beach is 12,806
    6.53% of Huntington Beach population is Italian
  • 2
    Irvine
    Italian population in Irvine is 8,750
    2.84% of Irvine population is Italian
  • 3
    Anaheim
    Italian population in Anaheim is 7,101
    2.06% of Anaheim population is Italian
  • 4
    Newport Beach
    Italian population in Newport Beach is 6,713
    7.96% of Newport Beach population is Italian
  • 5
    Costa Mesa
    Italian population in Costa Mesa is 6,197
    5.61% of Costa Mesa population is Italian

Overview of Italian population in Orange County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data shows Orange County contains 117,191 Italian residents (3.7% of 3.2 million total county population), ranking the jurisdiction at the 99th percentile nationally among counties and 94th percentile within California for Italian demographic concentrations across both absolute and proportional measures.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS indicate Orange County's Italian population of 3.7% exceeds California's state average of 3.4% while remaining below the national average of 4.9%, placing the county above regional demographic benchmarks while below national concentration levels.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey data documents Orange County with 117,191 Italian residents, representing 8.7% of California's total Italian population of 1.3 million.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey data shows Orange County maintains 147.8 Italian Americans per square mile, representing just over seventeen times California's average of 8.6 per square mile, establishing the county as an exceptional concentration center comparable to major metropolitan demographic areas.
  • Need additional overviews? Extended research data available for purchase and license. ➔

34 Cities in Orange County Ranked by Italian Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Italian populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in Huntington Beach, Irvine, Anaheim, and Newport Beach. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 34 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Orange County, CA ranked by Italian population count
Rank by Italian Population
City
Italian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Orange County Italian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Huntington Beach 12,806 6.53% 10.93%
2 Irvine 8,750 2.84% 7.47%
3 Anaheim 7,101 2.06% 6.06%
4 Newport Beach 6,713 7.96% 5.73%
5 Costa Mesa 6,197 5.61% 5.29%
6 Orange 5,636 4.06% 4.81%
7 Mission Viejo 4,946 5.35% 4.22%
8 4,734 3.35% 4.04%
9 4,254 6.70% 3.63%
10 4,069 4.74% 3.47%
11 3,821 5.97% 3.26%
12 3,549 7.51% 3.03%
13 3,168 4.70% 2.70%
14 3,082 1.81% 2.63%
15 2,920 8.34% 2.49%
16 2,762 5.38% 2.36%
17 2,613 0.84% 2.23%
18 2,507 7.62% 2.14%
19 2,088 2.64% 1.78%
20 1,939 3.12% 1.65%
21 1,915 3.66% 1.63%
22 1,850 3.91% 1.58%
23 1,795 3.19% 1.53%
24 1,727 5.59% 1.47%
25 1,549 1.72% 1.32%
26 1,407 6.18% 1.20%
27 1,400 2.83% 1.19%
28 1,265 1.52% 1.08%
29 1,210 4.87% 1.03%
30 774 4.46% 0.66%
31 630 5.35% 0.54%
32 532 1.38% 0.45%
33 312 2.03% 0.27%
34 194 3.36% 0.17%
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 city in Orange County, CA by their Italian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Italian 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 Italian 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 Italian alone, while others identify as Italian along with another race (such as Italian and German).
  • We’ve used the “Italian alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Italian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Italian alone or in combination in city. 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 Italian .
  2. % of Total Orange County Italian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Italian 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 Italian 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.
  • City that don’t have any reported Italian 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 Italian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

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