Mexican Population in California by County : 2025 Ranking & Insights

According to U.S. Census estimates, the Mexican population in California stands at 12.7 million. Every county reports a non-zero population, with Los Angeles County leading at 3.5 million, followed by Riverside County (1.1 million) and San Bernardino County (1.0 million). The combined total across counties is slightly lower than the statewide figure - a gap that may reflect rounding, data lag, or unassigned residents in certain census tracts. This analysis ranks all counties in California by their Mexican population, offering a localized perspective on how the community is distributed across the state.

Top 5 counties with the largest Mexican population in California

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  • 1
    Los Angeles County
    Mexican population in Los Angeles County is 3,500,757
    35.55% of Los Angeles County population is Mexican
  • 2
    Riverside County
    Mexican population in Riverside County is 1,073,197
    43.81% of Riverside County population is Mexican
  • 3
    San Bernardino County
    Mexican population in San Bernardino County is 1,011,728
    46.24% of San Bernardino County population is Mexican
  • 4
    San Diego County
    Mexican population in San Diego County is 972,117
    29.61% of San Diego County population is Mexican
  • 5
    Orange County
    Mexican population in Orange County is 902,317
    28.52% of Orange County population is Mexican

Overview of Mexican population in California

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey show California contains 12.7 million Mexican residents (32.3% of 39.2 million total state population), positioning the state at the 100th percentile nationally among U.S. states for Mexican population concentrations.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: U.S. Census data records indicate California's Mexican population of 32.3% exceeds the national average of 11.3% by a factor of 2.9.
  • Share of Total National Population: Official American Community Survey data indicates California's 12.7 million Mexican residents constitute 33.8% of the nation's total Mexican population of 37.4 million, placing the state among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 33.8% of all American Mexican Americans residing within state boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document California with 81.2 Mexican Americans per square mile, more than seven times the national average density of 10.6 per square mile, placing the state among jurisdictions with significantly elevated demographic concentrations nationally.
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55 Counties in California Ranked by Mexican Population

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show Mexican populations across every county in California, with demographic distributions ranging from the highest population in Los Angeles County to the lowest in $rank_n_geo_name. The table below provides broader statistics, including total population figures, density measures, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for all counties included in this analysis*.
counties in California ranked by Mexican population count
Rank by Mexican Population
County
Mexican Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total California Mexican Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Los Angeles County 3,500,757 35.55% 27.66%
2 Riverside County 1,073,197 43.81% 8.48%
3 San Bernardino County 1,011,728 46.24% 7.99%
4 San Diego County 972,117 29.61% 7.68%
5 Orange County 902,317 28.52% 7.13%
6 Fresno County 504,216 49.82% 3.98%
7 Kern County 456,454 50.14% 3.61%
8 382,021 20.07% 3.02%
9 320,299 38.21% 2.53%
10 305,885 19.31% 2.42%
11 295,504 62.11% 2.33%
12 291,505 37.02% 2.30%
13 269,569 16.32% 2.13%
14 250,506 45.36% 1.98%
15 243,164 55.79% 1.92%
16 209,392 18.03% 1.65%
17 189,016 42.57% 1.49%
18 170,863 59.83% 1.35%
19 148,315 82.71% 1.17%
20 115,074 23.70% 0.91%
21 108,216 14.52% 0.86%
22 98,340 21.81% 0.78%
23 90,891 57.24% 0.72%
24 81,398 53.26% 0.64%
25 81,042 30.46% 0.64%
26 65,170 7.79% 0.51%
27 61,894 28.42% 0.49%
28 58,610 20.82% 0.46%
29 43,510 10.55% 0.34%
30 41,353 30.39% 0.33%
31 36,392 55.09% 0.29%
32 34,463 16.45% 0.27%
33 28,614 28.91% 0.23%
34 21,833 24.07% 0.17%
35 21,333 25.68% 0.17%
36 21,294 8.23% 0.17%
37 20,009 10.41% 0.16%
38 16,529 25.23% 0.13%
39 14,747 8.12% 0.12%
40 14,622 10.80% 0.12%
41 13,636 20.01% 0.11%
42 13,064 59.67% 0.10%
43 12,058 42.13% 0.10%
44 7,080 6.91% 0.06%
45 5,680 18.22% 0.04%
46 4,601 10.00% 0.04%
47 4,599 8.38% 0.04%
48 4,480 10.22% 0.04%
49 4,244 10.34% 0.03%
50 4,058 14.87% 0.03%
51 3,491 18.57% 0.03%
52 3,293 25.01% 0.03%
53 1,293 6.59% 0.01%
54 1,056 12.21% 0.01%
55 228 8.35% 0.00%
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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 county in California by their Mexican population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

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

Sources

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