Japanese Population in United States by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

According to the latest U.S. Census estimates, the Japanese population in the United States stands at 1.6 million individuals. Los Angeles contains the largest Japanese community with 44,696 residents, followed by New York (36,101) and San Diego (19,338), with many other cities across the country home to active Japanese communities of varying sizes. This nationwide ranking highlights how Japanese populations are distributed across American cities, offering a broader view into their settlement patterns and regional diversity.

Top 5 cities with the largest Japanese population in United States

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  • 1
    Los Angeles
    Japanese population in Los Angeles is 44,696
    1.16% of Los Angeles population is Japanese
  • 2
    New York
    Japanese population in New York is 36,101
    0.42% of New York population is Japanese
  • 3
    San Diego
    Japanese population in San Diego is 19,338
    1.40% of San Diego population is Japanese
  • 4
    Torrance
    Japanese population in Torrance is 18,958
    13.21% of Torrance population is Japanese
  • 5
    Seattle
    Japanese population in Seattle is 17,517
    2.36% of Seattle population is Japanese

U.S. Cities by Japanese Population : National Rankings

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show significant Japanese populations in leading metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and Torrance, while numerous other incorporated cities recorded minimal or zero residents identified as Americans of Japanese ancestry. The table below provides broader statistics, including total population figures, density measures, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for all incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in United States ranked by Japanese population count
Rank by Japanese Population
City
Japanese Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total United States Japanese Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Los Angeles 44,696 1.16% 2.73%
2 New York 36,101 0.42% 2.21%
3 San Diego 19,338 1.40% 1.18%
4 Torrance 18,958 13.21% 1.16%
5 Seattle 17,517 2.36% 1.07%
6 San Jose 16,667 1.68% 1.02%
7 San Francisco 16,368 1.96% 1.00%
8 16,240 1.00% 0.99%
9 11,465 3.72% 0.70%
10 10,288 1.96% 0.63%
11 9,754 0.36% 0.60%
12 9,230 0.35% 0.56%
13 8,851 0.38% 0.54%
14 7,884 1.23% 0.48%
15 6,883 1.06% 0.42%
16 5,807 0.60% 0.36%
17 5,774 0.25% 0.35%
18 5,528 9.25% 0.34%
19 5,433 1.19% 0.33%
20 5,395 1.23% 0.33%
21 5,156 3.41% 0.32%
22 5,034 0.31% 0.31%
23 4,981 2.54% 0.30%
24 4,948 1.52% 0.30%
25 4,327 0.30% 0.26%
26 4,127 10.00% 0.25%
27 3,911 0.72% 0.24%
28 3,894 5.58% 0.24%
29 3,880 1.41% 0.24%
30 3,817 1.73% 0.23%
31 3,682 0.52% 0.23%
32 3,495 5.28% 0.21%
33 3,483 5.84% 0.21%
34 3,397 2.21% 0.21%
35 3,356 2.79% 0.21%
36 3,188 0.66% 0.20%
37 3,174 0.35% 0.19%
38 3,072 2.38% 0.19%
39 3,062 0.89% 0.19%
40 2,983 0.53% 0.18%
41 2,948 0.93% 0.18%
42 2,946 0.31% 0.18%
43 2,934 1.24% 0.18%
44 2,885 1.63% 0.18%
45 2,856 2.76% 0.17%
46 2,818 1.23% 0.17%
47 2,770 0.21% 0.17%
48 2,752 0.17% 0.17%
49 2,734 0.95% 0.17%
50 2,687 0.99% 0.16%
51 2,670 1.96% 0.16%
52 2,603 0.51% 0.16%
53 2,563 2.24% 0.16%
54 2,562 6.41% 0.16%
55 2,551 0.47% 0.16%
56 2,525 0.93% 0.15%
57 2,481 0.89% 0.15%
58 2,475 3.01% 0.15%
59 2,435 0.91% 0.15%
60 2,417 2.48% 0.15%
61 2,399 0.36% 0.15%
62 2,340 1.36% 0.14%
63 2,330 0.35% 0.14%
64 2,286 1.00% 0.14%
65 2,231 1.26% 0.14%
66 2,210 0.97% 0.14%
67 2,179 0.32% 0.13%
68 2,174 1.13% 0.13%
69 2,099 2.29% 0.13%
70 2,080 2.25% 0.13%
71 2,072 4.18% 0.13%
72 2,066 0.45% 0.13%
73 2,056 1.64% 0.13%
74 2,039 0.30% 0.12%
75 2,036 4.21% 0.12%
76 2,003 1.31% 0.12%
77 2,000 1.90% 0.12%
78 1,992 0.98% 0.12%
79 1,978 2.58% 0.12%
80 1,976 2.40% 0.12%
81 1,950 1.85% 0.12%
82 1,921 2.24% 0.12%
83 1,909 3.39% 0.12%
84 1,889 1.76% 0.12%
85 1,850 0.21% 0.11%
86 1,847 0.19% 0.11%
87 1,836 2.39% 0.11%
88 1,827 3.10% 0.11%
89 1,795 1.43% 0.11%
90 1,780 1.48% 0.11%
91 1,779 0.46% 0.11%
92 1,768 0.35% 0.11%
93 1,757 1.59% 0.11%
94 1,736 2.58% 0.11%
95 1,712 0.53% 0.10%
96 1,661 0.79% 0.10%
97 1,658 1.17% 0.10%
97 1,658 0.86% 0.10%
98 1,653 1.99% 0.10%
99 1,648 1.61% 0.10%
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 United States by their Japanese population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Japanese 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 Japanese .
  2. % of Total United States Japanese Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Japanese 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 Japanese 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 Japanese 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 Japanese populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

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