Chinese American Demographics

Chinese American Population
Largest Asian American group with a population of 2,422,970 (Chinese only).

About 1.68 million Asians reported more then one Asian group or race in Census 2000 and are not included in these numbers. Actual number of Chinese would thus be more.

Population growth rates of 47.5% from 1990 to 2000 and 104.1% from 1980-1990.

Comprise 23.74% of the Asian American population and 0.86% of the US population.

Though Chinese Americans have a rapid growth rate their birth rates are lower than those of American whites, and as such their population is aging relatively quickly.

Leading US States
The leading States for Chinese Americans are California, New York, Hawaii, Texas and New Jersey. Together these five States constitute more then 80% of the Chinese American population with 40% being in CA alone.

Chinese American Population by leading US States

California 1,122,187
New York 451,859
Hawaii 170,803
Texas 121,588
New Jersey 110,263
Massachusetts 92,380
Illinois 86,095
Washington 75,884
Florida 59,280
Pennsylvania 56,831

Contact us for demographics on other US States.

Chinese American Population by leading US Counties

State County Population % of Total
Arizona Maricopa County 19,055 0.62%
California Los Angeles County 377,301 3.96%
California San Francisco County 160,947 20.72%
California Santa Clara County 129,062 7.67%
California Alameda County 123,137 8.53%
California Orange County 72,437 2.55%
California San Mateo County 54,692 7.73%
California San Diego County 39,278 1.40%
California Sacramento County 35,546 2.91%
Florida Miami-Dade County 12,848 0.57%
Florida Broward County 10,553 0.65%
Hawaii Honolulu County 136,446 15.57%
Hawaii Hawaii County 17,537 11.80%
Hawaii Maui County 11,513 8.99%
Illinois Cook County 53,199 0.99%
Maryland Montgomery County 31,269 3.58%
Massachusetts Middlesex County 35,297 2.41%
Massachusetts Suffolk County 21,415 3.10%
Massachusetts Norfolk County 20,201 3.11%
Nevada Clark County 15,069 1.10%
New Jersey Middlesex County 23,425 3.12%
New Jersey Bergen County 15,499 1.75%
New York Queens County 147,037 6.60%
New York Kings County 125,358 5.09%
New York New York County 91,588 5.96%
New York Nassau County 18,189 1.36%
Pennsylvania Philadelphia County 19,672 1.30%
Texas Harris County 38,914 1.14%
Texas Dallas County 13,955 0.63%
Texas Collin County 13,844 2.82%
Virginia Fairfax County 20,227 2.09%
Washington King County 53,972 3.11%

Contact us for demographics on other US Counties.

Chinese American Population by leading US Cities

City Population % of Total
San Francisco, CA 160,947 20.72%
Queens Borough, NY 147,037 6.60%
Brooklyn Borough, NY 125,358 5.09%
Manhattan Borough, NY 91,588 5.96%
Los Angeles, CA 73,868 2.00%
Honolulu, HI 68,849 18.53%
San Jose, CA 57,974 6.48%
Chicago, IL 34,370 1.19%
Oakland, CA 34,253 8.57%
Fremont, CA 31,517 15.49%
Alhambra, CA 31,099 36.24%
San Diego, CA 27,809 2.27%
Monterey Park, CA 26,810 44.65%
Houston, TX 26,541 1.36%
Seattle, WA 22,860 4.06%
Sacramento, CA 21,618 5.31%
Boston, MA 20,800 3.53%
Arcadia, CA 19,676 37.09%
Philadelphia, PA 19,672 1.30%
Rosemead, CA 17,441 32.60%
Irvine, CA 16,961 11.86%
Rowland Heights, CA 15,740 32.42%
Daly City, CA 15,256 14.72%
San Gabriel, CA 14,581 36.63%
Sunnyvale, CA 13,691 10.39%
Hacienda Heights, CA 13,551 25.51%
El Monte, CA 13,152 11.34%
Cupertino, CA 12,777 25.28%
Diamond Bar, CA 11,396 20.25%
Temple City, CA 10,269 30.77%

Contact us for demographics on other US Cities.

Incomes
Median Household Income of $41,583.

Average Chinese household income is about 30% higher then the national average.

Immigration
Immigrant (native Chinese) population is 47% of Chinese American population.

Home Ownership
Home ownership rate of 65% compared to 54% for US average.

About 84% of Chinese Americans between ages 35-44 own a home.

Household Size
Average household size of 3.8 people per household compared to 3.2 for US.

Education
38% have Bachelors degree or higher compared to 22% for national average.

Cultural Characteristics
The community has a strong referral base and repeat customer presence.

They are quality and value conscious.

Geographical Distribution
Smaller pockets of Chinese Americans are also dispersed in rural towns, often university towns, throughout the US.

Chinatowns
Chinese community enclaves known as Chinatowns are present in most major US cities. In Chinese, Chinatown is usually called in standard Mandarin "Tangren Jie" (the neighborhood/streets inhabited by Tang people). In Cantonese, it is called "Tong yan gai" (Tang people street) and the modern "Tong yan fau" (Tang people town, or more accurately, Chinese town). It is called "Tong ngin gai" in Hakka, one of the widely spoken and diffused dialect among overseas Chinese. A more modern Chinese name is "Huábù" (Chinese City) which is used in the semi-official Chinese translations of some cities' documents and signs. The literal word-to-word translation of Chinatown is "Zhongguó Chéng", which is occasionally used in Chinese writing.

Major US Chinatowns could be found in: Chicago IL, HoustonTX, Las Vegas NV, Los Angeles CA, Manhattan NY, Philadelphia PA, Portland OR, Oakland CA, San Francisco CA and Washington DC.