Korean Population in Santa Clara County, CA by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Korean population in Santa Clara County, CA is recorded at 41,985 residents, based on the latest U.S. Census estimates. Each city in Santa Clara County, CA has some Korean population, but the county''s higher total suggests additional rural or non-municipal representation. The analysis below explores how Korean communities are spread across Santa Clara County, CA and comparable counties throughout California.

Top 5 cities with the largest Korean population in Santa Clara County

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  • 1
    San Jose
    Korean population in San Jose is 18,204
    1.84% of San Jose population is Korean
  • 2
    Santa Clara
    Korean population in Santa Clara is 4,461
    3.45% of Santa Clara population is Korean
  • 3
    Sunnyvale
    Korean population in Sunnyvale is 4,224
    2.75% of Sunnyvale population is Korean
  • 4
    Palo Alto
    Korean population in Palo Alto is 2,641
    3.93% of Palo Alto population is Korean
  • 5
    Cupertino
    Korean population in Cupertino is 2,359
    4.01% of Cupertino population is Korean

Overview of Korean population in Santa Clara County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data shows Santa Clara County contains 41,985 Korean residents (2.2% of 1.9 million total county population), ranking the jurisdiction at the 99th percentile nationally among counties and 94th percentile within California for Korean demographic concentrations across both absolute and proportional measures.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS show Santa Clara County's Korean population of 2.2% surpassing both California's state average of 1.4% and the national average of 0.6%, positioning the county as a high-concentration jurisdiction exceeding demographic benchmarks across all geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey data documents Santa Clara County with 41,985 Korean residents, representing 7.4% of California's total Korean population of 565,921.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document Santa Clara County with 32.5 Korean Americans per square mile, nearly nine times California's average density of 3.6 per square mile, placing the county among the most densely concentrated jurisdictions within the state.
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15 Cities in Santa Clara County Ranked by Korean Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Korean populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Palo Alto. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 15 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Santa Clara County, CA ranked by Korean population count
Rank by Korean Population
City
Korean Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Santa Clara County Korean Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 San Jose 18,204 1.84% 43.36%
2 Santa Clara 4,461 3.45% 10.63%
3 Sunnyvale 4,224 2.75% 10.06%
4 Palo Alto 2,641 3.93% 6.29%
5 Cupertino 2,359 4.01% 5.62%
6 Milpitas 1,867 2.39% 4.45%
7 Mountain View 1,782 2.16% 4.24%
8 1,408 4.58% 3.35%
9 1,085 2.53% 2.58%
10 897 2.96% 2.14%
11 532 6.36% 1.27%
12 454 1.01% 1.08%
13 386 0.66% 0.92%
14 200 0.61% 0.48%
15 103 2.98% 0.25%
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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 Santa Clara County, CA 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 Santa Clara County 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.