Korean Population in California by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Korean population in California totals 565,921, according to recent U.S. Census estimates. Leading cities include Los Angeles (112,638), followed by Irvine (25,344) and San Diego (20,481), each hosting visible segments of the community. While these urban centers anchor much of the population, the statewide total points to a broader presence in unincorporated areas and smaller towns beyond major city boundaries. The analysis below explores how Korean residents are distributed across California''s urban and rural landscape.

Top 5 cities with the largest Korean population in California

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  • 1
    Los Angeles
    Korean population in Los Angeles is 112,638
    2.92% of Los Angeles population is Korean
  • 2
    Irvine
    Korean population in Irvine is 25,344
    8.22% of Irvine population is Korean
  • 3
    San Diego
    Korean population in San Diego is 20,481
    1.48% of San Diego population is Korean
  • 4
    Fullerton
    Korean population in Fullerton is 18,744
    13.27% of Fullerton population is Korean
  • 5
    San Jose
    Korean population in San Jose is 18,204
    1.84% of San Jose population is Korean

Overview of Korean population in California

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey documents California with 565,921 Korean residents (1.4% of 39.2 million total state population), ranking the state at the 100th percentile nationally among U.S. jurisdictions for Korean demographic representation.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: U.S. Census data records indicate California's Korean population of 1.4% exceeds the national average of 0.6% by a factor of 2.4.
  • Share of Total National Population: Official American Community Survey data indicates California's 565,921 Korean residents constitute 28.3% of the nation's total Korean population of 2.0 million, placing the state among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 28.3% of all American Korean Americans residing within state boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document California with 3.6 Korean Americans per square mile, six and a half times the national average density of 0.57 per square mile, placing the state among jurisdictions with significantly elevated demographic concentrations nationally.
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473 Cities in California Ranked by Korean Population

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show Korean population in California present in Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego, along with several other incorporated cities reporting non-zero populations. 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 California ranked by Korean population count
Rank by Korean Population
City
Korean Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total California Korean Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Los Angeles 112,638 2.92% 19.90%
2 Irvine 25,344 8.22% 4.48%
3 San Diego 20,481 1.48% 3.62%
4 Fullerton 18,744 13.27% 3.31%
5 San Jose 18,204 1.84% 3.22%
6 San Francisco 14,922 1.78% 2.64%
7 Torrance 12,615 8.79% 2.23%
8 10,676 12.85% 1.89%
9 7,220 2.10% 1.28%
10 7,079 3.68% 1.25%
11 6,687 13.50% 1.18%
12 5,897 12.20% 1.04%
13 5,549 11.82% 0.98%
14 4,801 8.93% 0.85%
15 4,561 1.04% 0.81%
16 4,461 3.45% 0.79%
17 4,380 2.57% 0.77%
18 4,255 6.31% 0.75%
19 4,242 5.44% 0.75%
20 4,224 2.75% 0.75%
21 4,158 8.78% 0.73%
22 4,075 1.78% 0.72%
23 3,919 4.96% 0.69%
24 3,793 6.09% 0.67%
25 3,376 3.94% 0.60%
26 3,348 5.60% 0.59%
27 3,230 1.41% 0.57%
28 3,228 0.70% 0.57%
29 3,131 15.58% 0.55%
30 3,050 0.58% 0.54%
31 2,979 7.22% 0.53%
32 2,786 2.04% 0.49%
33 2,744 3.54% 0.48%
34 2,641 3.93% 0.47%
35 2,619 0.83% 0.46%
36 2,606 2.17% 0.46%
37 2,551 0.93% 0.45%
38 2,497 1.80% 0.44%
39 2,411 1.38% 0.43%
40 2,397 1.51% 0.42%
41 2,359 4.01% 0.42%
42 2,358 1.20% 0.42%
43 2,333 2.72% 0.41%
44 2,317 0.43% 0.41%
45 2,265 8.61% 0.40%
46 2,185 3.13% 0.39%
47 2,079 2.27% 0.37%
48 2,078 1.40% 0.37%
49 2,013 3.84% 0.36%
50 1,984 1.77% 0.35%
51 1,965 12.78% 0.35%
52 1,925 2.10% 0.34%
53 1,894 1.83% 0.33%
54 1,882 1.87% 0.33%
55 1,867 2.39% 0.33%
56 1,849 2.62% 0.33%
57 1,844 2.40% 0.33%
58 1,782 2.16% 0.31%
59 1,760 2.14% 0.31%
60 1,736 0.43% 0.31%
61 1,619 1.54% 0.29%
62 1,580 0.89% 0.28%
63 1,569 2.82% 0.28%
64 1,552 2.32% 0.27%
65 1,459 1.56% 0.26%
66 1,453 8.38% 0.26%
67 1,444 3.33% 0.26%
68 1,420 1.68% 0.25%
69 1,408 4.58% 0.25%
70 1,340 2.09% 0.24%
71 1,330 1.06% 0.24%
72 1,323 2.22% 0.23%
73 1,308 0.42% 0.23%
74 1,281 1.82% 0.23%
75 1,229 1.76% 0.22%
76 1,218 0.77% 0.22%
76 1,218 0.71% 0.22%
77 1,213 1.06% 0.21%
78 1,184 4.76% 0.21%
79 1,181 1.06% 0.21%
80 1,166 0.93% 0.21%
81 1,151 1.13% 0.20%
82 1,127 1.40% 0.20%
83 1,126 4.04% 0.20%
84 1,125 0.94% 0.20%
85 1,121 4.48% 0.20%
86 1,085 2.53% 0.19%
87 1,077 0.98% 0.19%
88 1,057 1.29% 0.19%
89 1,047 1.28% 0.19%
90 1,045 1.30% 0.18%
91 1,031 1.51% 0.18%
92 1,026 2.00% 0.18%
93 1,014 1.10% 0.18%
94 1,005 0.56% 0.18%
95 967 0.84% 0.17%
96 964 2.41% 0.17%
97 955 1.21% 0.17%
98 943 2.73% 0.17%
99 935 5.83% 0.17%
100 920 0.60% 0.16%
101 900 0.96% 0.16%
102 897 2.96% 0.16%
103 892 1.22% 0.16%
104 876 0.79% 0.15%
105 855 0.57% 0.15%
106 841 0.95% 0.15%
107 824 0.80% 0.15%
108 805 0.45% 0.14%
109 798 0.56% 0.14%
110 767 0.89% 0.14%
111 763 1.05% 0.13%
112 753 0.36% 0.13%
113 743 0.60% 0.13%
114 741 1.92% 0.13%
115 733 3.71% 0.13%
116 722 0.58% 0.13%
117 719 2.18% 0.13%
118 709 2.22% 0.13%
118 709 1.94% 0.13%
119 703 1.87% 0.12%
120 693 1.23% 0.12%
121 686 0.95% 0.12%
122 661 2.96% 0.12%
123 655 0.53% 0.12%
124 654 0.48% 0.12%
125 652 4.72% 0.12%
126 645 1.80% 0.11%
127 634 0.74% 0.11%
128 629 0.31% 0.11%
129 624 1.02% 0.11%
130 623 3.23% 0.11%
131 622 0.96% 0.11%
132 616 0.28% 0.11%
133 614 7.53% 0.11%
134 608 0.36% 0.11%
135 589 1.80% 0.10%
136 588 0.18% 0.10%
137 587 0.82% 0.10%
138 586 0.27% 0.10%
139 564 0.93% 0.10%
140 563 0.73% 0.10%
141 552 4.50% 0.10%
142 549 2.40% 0.10%
143 544 4.26% 0.10%
143 544 0.86% 0.10%
144 533 0.61% 0.09%
145 532 6.36% 0.09%
146 531 1.11% 0.09%
147 526 0.97% 0.09%
148 525 2.64% 0.09%
149 523 2.69% 0.09%
150 522 1.08% 0.09%
151 517 1.62% 0.09%
152 516 0.84% 0.09%
153 512 1.68% 0.09%
154 505 2.24% 0.09%
155 497 0.31% 0.09%
156 495 0.46% 0.09%
157 494 0.55% 0.09%
158 487 1.63% 0.09%
159 484 0.94% 0.09%
160 482 1.02% 0.09%
161 474 2.32% 0.08%
162 468 1.10% 0.08%
163 467 0.46% 0.08%
164 465 1.50% 0.08%
164 465 2.77% 0.08%
165 457 0.75% 0.08%
166 454 1.01% 0.08%
166 454 0.41% 0.08%
167 449 0.21% 0.08%
168 447 1.21% 0.08%
169 444 1.18% 0.08%
170 443 1.36% 0.08%
171 440 1.14% 0.08%
172 439 1.74% 0.08%
172 439 0.46% 0.08%
173 436 1.59% 0.08%
174 431 0.46% 0.08%
175 425 0.66% 0.08%
176 419 0.48% 0.07%
177 415 1.18% 0.07%
178 414 0.39% 0.07%
179 411 1.96% 0.07%
180 403 0.38% 0.07%
180 403 3.62% 0.07%
181 400 1.30% 0.07%
182 386 0.66% 0.07%
183 384 0.39% 0.07%
184 382 2.93% 0.07%
185 369 0.60% 0.07%
186 368 0.37% 0.07%
187 366 1.42% 0.06%
188 362 1.01% 0.06%
189 357 0.71% 0.06%
190 344 0.70% 0.06%
191 337 1.48% 0.06%
192 333 1.27% 0.06%
193 326 0.36% 0.06%
194 311 0.60% 0.06%
195 310 0.34% 0.05%
195 310 1.28% 0.05%
196 307 0.56% 0.05%
197 286 0.82% 0.05%
198 284 0.40% 0.05%
199 276 0.37% 0.05%
199 276 1.05% 0.05%
199 276 0.17% 0.05%
200 275 1.43% 0.05%
201 272 0.85% 0.05%
201 272 0.44% 0.05%
202 269 0.57% 0.05%
203 263 2.23% 0.05%
204 258 0.88% 0.05%
205 254 2.81% 0.04%
206 252 0.50% 0.04%
207 248 0.83% 0.04%
208 245 0.48% 0.04%
209 241 1.43% 0.04%
210 236 0.44% 0.04%
211 235 0.45% 0.04%
212 233 0.27% 0.04%
213 213 0.27% 0.04%
214 210 0.35% 0.04%
215 206 1.87% 0.04%
216 201 2.65% 0.04%
217 200 0.61% 0.04%
218 196 0.40% 0.03%
219 195 0.17% 0.03%
220 193 0.56% 0.03%
221 188 1.63% 0.03%
222 186 0.27% 0.03%
223 179 0.21% 0.03%
224 174 0.17% 0.03%
225 173 0.64% 0.03%
226 172 1.15% 0.03%
226 172 0.91% 0.03%
226 172 0.60% 0.03%
227 169 0.78% 0.03%
228 165 1.54% 0.03%
229 162 1.34% 0.03%
230 159 0.63% 0.03%
230 159 2.22% 0.03%
231 158 0.42% 0.03%
232 148 1.15% 0.03%
233 145 0.75% 0.03%
234 144 0.24% 0.03%
235 143 0.47% 0.03%
235 143 1.92% 0.03%
236 142 0.27% 0.03%
237 140 0.33% 0.02%
237 140 0.37% 0.02%
238 138 0.31% 0.02%
238 138 0.31% 0.02%
239 137 1.07% 0.02%
240 136 0.25% 0.02%
241 134 0.41% 0.02%
242 133 1.10% 0.02%
243 131 0.60% 0.02%
244 129 0.50% 0.02%
245 128 0.41% 0.02%
245 128 0.28% 0.02%
246 127 1.26% 0.02%
246 127 2.29% 0.02%
247 126 0.21% 0.02%
248 123 0.23% 0.02%
249 119 1.08% 0.02%
250 117 0.43% 0.02%
251 115 0.11% 0.02%
252 112 0.44% 0.02%
253 111 0.11% 0.02%
254 110 0.25% 0.02%
255 109 0.59% 0.02%
255 109 0.37% 0.02%
256 105 0.33% 0.02%
257 103 2.98% 0.02%
258 99 0.46% 0.02%
259 96 0.96% 0.02%
259 96 0.28% 0.02%
260 91 0.31% 0.02%
260 91 0.16% 0.02%
261 90 0.29% 0.02%
262 86 0.11% 0.02%
263 80 0.22% 0.01%
264 78 0.21% 0.01%
264 78 0.10% 0.01%
265 74 0.40% 0.01%
265 74 0.37% 0.01%
266 71 0.68% 0.01%
267 68 0.89% 0.01%
268 67 0.40% 0.01%
269 66 0.27% 0.01%
270 65 0.50% 0.01%
270 65 0.12% 0.01%
271 64 0.94% 0.01%
272 63 0.07% 0.01%
273 62 0.20% 0.01%
274 61 0.76% 0.01%
274 61 0.07% 0.01%
274 61 0.78% 0.01%
275 60 0.58% 0.01%
276 59 0.13% 0.01%
277 58 0.27% 0.01%
278 55 0.42% 0.01%
279 52 0.74% 0.01%
279 52 0.41% 0.01%
280 50 0.39% 0.01%
281 49 3.24% 0.01%
282 48 0.04% 0.01%
283 45 0.16% 0.01%
283 45 0.08% 0.01%
284 42 0.08% 0.01%
285 41 0.29% 0.01%
285 41 0.16% 0.01%
285 41 0.19% 0.01%
286 40 0.12% 0.01%
287 39 0.35% 0.01%
287 39 0.42% 0.01%
287 39 0.16% 0.01%
288 34 0.05% 0.01%
289 33 0.22% 0.01%
289 33 0.36% 0.01%
290 32 0.08% 0.01%
290 32 0.16% 0.01%
290 32 0.03% 0.01%
290 32 0.18% 0.01%
291 31 0.62% 0.01%
291 31 0.11% 0.01%
292 30 0.24% 0.01%
292 30 0.05% 0.01%
293 29 0.05% 0.01%
294 28 0.09% 0.00%
294 28 0.05% 0.00%
294 28 0.19% 0.00%
294 28 0.19% 0.00%
295 26 0.42% 0.00%
295 26 0.23% 0.00%
295 26 0.10% 0.00%
295 26 0.69% 0.00%
296 25 1.04% 0.00%
296 25 0.46% 0.00%
296 25 0.48% 0.00%
297 24 0.32% 0.00%
298 22 0.12% 0.00%
298 22 0.13% 0.00%
299 21 1.68% 0.00%
300 20 0.08% 0.00%
300 20 0.41% 0.00%
301 19 0.09% 0.00%
301 19 0.04% 0.00%
302 18 0.16% 0.00%
302 18 1.25% 0.00%
302 18 0.07% 0.00%
303 17 0.29% 0.00%
304 16 2.03% 0.00%
304 16 0.06% 0.00%
305 15 0.03% 0.00%
305 15 0.14% 0.00%
305 15 0.44% 0.00%
306 13 0.10% 0.00%
306 13 0.28% 0.00%
306 13 0.06% 0.00%
306 13 0.07% 0.00%
306 13 0.05% 0.00%
306 13 0.06% 0.00%
306 13 0.08% 0.00%
307 12 0.06% 0.00%
307 12 0.10% 0.00%
308 11 0.13% 0.00%
308 11 0.03% 0.00%
309 10 0.20% 0.00%
309 10 0.13% 0.00%
310 9 0.12% 0.00%
311 8 0.04% 0.00%
311 8 0.06% 0.00%
311 8 0.08% 0.00%
311 8 0.04% 0.00%
312 7 0.04% 0.00%
312 7 0.45% 0.00%
312 7 0.34% 0.00%
312 7 0.05% 0.00%
313 6 0.06% 0.00%
313 6 0.40% 0.00%
313 6 0.01% 0.00%
314 4 0.13% 0.00%
315 3 0.01% 0.00%
316 1 0.03% 0.00%
316 1 0.00% 0.00%
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
317 0 - -
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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 California by their Korean population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

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

Sources

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