Portuguese Population in United States by State : 2025 Ranking & Insights

According to U.S. Census estimates, all 50 states and the District of Columbia report a measurable Portuguese population, totaling 1.4 million nationwide. California leads with 314,069 residents, followed by Massachusetts (261,704) and Florida (94,934). This ranking examines how Portuguese communities are distributed across the entire United States, highlighting regional patterns, cultural concentrations, and state-level differences.

Top 5 states with the largest Portuguese population in United States

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  • 1
    California
    Portuguese population in California is 314,069
    0.80% of California population is Portuguese
  • 2
    Massachusetts
    Portuguese population in Massachusetts is 261,704
    3.74% of Massachusetts population is Portuguese
  • 3
    Florida
    Portuguese population in Florida is 94,934
    0.43% of Florida population is Portuguese
  • 4
    Rhode Island
    Portuguese population in Rhode Island is 78,544
    7.17% of Rhode Island population is Portuguese
  • 5
    New Jersey
    Portuguese population in New Jersey is 77,741
    0.84% of New Jersey population is Portuguese

U.S. States by Portuguese Population : National Rankings

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show Portuguese populations present across states nationwide, with the largest counts in California, Massachusetts, Florida, and Rhode Island. The table below provides additional context, including total population, population density, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for all states included in this analysis*.
states in United States ranked by Portuguese population count
Rank by Portuguese Population
State
Portuguese Population
% of Total State Population
% of Total United States Portuguese Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 California 314,069 0.80% 23.22%
2 Massachusetts 261,704 3.74% 19.35%
3 Florida 94,934 0.43% 7.02%
4 Rhode Island 78,544 7.17% 5.81%
5 New Jersey 77,741 0.84% 5.75%
6 New York 50,210 0.25% 3.71%
7 Connecticut 47,884 1.33% 3.54%
8 44,641 0.15% 3.30%
9 27,025 0.35% 2.00%
10 21,850 0.17% 1.62%
11 20,224 1.46% 1.50%
12 18,923 0.26% 1.40%
13 18,719 0.22% 1.38%
14 18,490 0.44% 1.37%
15 17,970 0.17% 1.33%
16 17,619 0.56% 1.30%
17 17,565 0.16% 1.30%
18 15,640 0.27% 1.16%
19 12,203 0.20% 0.90%
20 12,006 0.09% 0.89%
21 9,628 0.08% 0.71%
22 9,300 0.18% 0.69%
23 7,883 0.42% 0.58%
24 6,853 0.10% 0.51%
25 6,741 0.07% 0.50%
26 6,728 0.49% 0.50%
27 6,474 0.19% 0.48%
28 6,128 0.10% 0.45%
29 5,686 0.14% 0.42%
30 5,360 0.08% 0.40%
31 4,573 0.22% 0.34%
32 4,309 0.10% 0.32%
33 4,216 0.07% 0.31%
34 4,072 0.09% 0.30%
35 3,800 0.08% 0.28%
36 3,330 0.06% 0.25%
37 2,953 0.46% 0.22%
38 2,797 0.09% 0.21%
39 2,305 0.08% 0.17%
40 2,131 0.21% 0.16%
41 1,899 0.17% 0.14%
42 1,673 0.05% 0.12%
43 1,647 0.25% 0.12%
44 1,609 0.22% 0.12%
45 1,602 0.08% 0.12%
46 1,332 0.23% 0.10%
47 1,235 0.07% 0.09%
48 1,218 0.04% 0.09%
49 829 0.09% 0.06%
50 524 0.07% 0.04%
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 state in United States by their Portuguese population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Portuguese alone or in combination in state. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total State Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Portuguese .
  2. % of Total United States Portuguese Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Portuguese 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 Portuguese 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.
  • State that don’t have any reported Portuguese 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 Portuguese populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

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