List of U.S. cities with significant Chinese-American populations


Cities considered to have significant Chinese-American populations are large U.S. cities or municipalities with a critical mass of at least 1% of the total urban population; medium-sized cities with a critical mass of at least 1% of their total population; and small cities with a critical mass of at least 10% of the total population.
According to the 2012 Census estimates, the three metropolitan areas with the largest Chinese-American populations were the Greater New York Combined Statistical Area at 735,019 people, the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area at 629,243 people, and the Greater Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area at about 566,968 people. In the post-1965 era, first- and second-generation immigrants include those from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Also included in the Chinese-American population enumeration are ethnic Chinese from Malaysia and Vietnam who might identify themselves as Chinese, thus skewing the census reporting.
New York City is home to by far the highest Chinese-American population of any city proper, with an estimated 573,388 Chinese-Americans in New York City, significantly higher than the total of the next five cities combined; multiple large Chinatowns in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are thriving as traditionally urban enclaves, as large-scale Chinese immigration continues into New York, with the largest metropolitan Chinese population outside Asia. The Los Angeles County city of Monterey Park has the highest percentage of Chinese-Americans of any municipality, at 43.7% of its population, or 24,758 people. The San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County is the single largest concentration of combined Chinese and Taiwanese Americans in the country, having a collections of U.S. suburbs with large foreign-born Chinese-speaking populations, ranging from working-class individuals residing in Rosemead and El Monte to wealthier immigrants living in Arcadia, San Marino, and Diamond Bar. A similar demographic shift has also taken place in the southern half of the San Francisco Bay Area. Conversely, the suburbs of New York City within the state of New Jersey are notable for their widespread and increasing prevalence of Chinese-Americans, reflecting their general affluence and propensity for professional occupations.

Metropolitan areas with more than 20,000 Chinese-Americans

The list of metropolitan area with at least the total Chinese-American population of 20,000,.
RankMSARegionChinese-AmericansPercentage
1New York-Newark-Jersey CityMid-Atlantic
2Los Angeles-Long Beach-AnaheimPacific
3San Francisco-Oakland-HaywardPacific
4San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa ClaraPacific
5Boston-Cambridge-NewtonNew England
6Chicago-Naperville-ElginEast North Central
7Washington-Arlington-AlexandriaSouth Atlantic
8Seattle-Tacoma-BellevuePacific
9Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar LandWest South Central
10Philadelphia-Camden-WilmingtonMid-Atlantic
11Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-ArcadePacific
12Dallas-Fort Worth-ArlingtonWest South Central
13San Diego-CarlsbadPacific
14Urban HonoluluPacific
15Riverside-San Bernardino-OntarioPacific
16Atlanta-Sandy Springs-RoswellSouth Atlantic
17Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm BeachSouth Atlantic
18Portland-Vancouver-HillsboroPacific
19Las Vegas-Henderson-ParadiseMountain
20Phoenix-Mesa-ScottsdaleMountain
21Minneapolis-St. Paul-BloomingtonWest North Central
22Detroit-Warren-DearbornEast North Central
23Baltimore-Columbia-TowsonSouth Atlantic
24Austin-Round RockWest South Central

Large-sized cities

The list of large cities with a Chinese-American population of at least 1% of the total population,.
RankCityStateChinese-AmericansPercentage
1San FranciscoCalifornia
2IrvineCalifornia
3OaklandCalifornia
4San JoseCalifornia
5New YorkNew York
6PlanoTexas
7HonoluluHawaii
8BostonMassachusetts
9SeattleWashington
10SacramentoCalifornia
11Jersey CityNew Jersey
12San DiegoCalifornia
13FairfaxVirginia
14PhiladelphiaPennsylvania
15PittsburghPennsylvania
16StocktonCalifornia
17PortlandOregon
18Los AngelesCalifornia
19ChicagoIllinois
20AustinTexas
21DurhamNorth Carolina
22HoustonTexas
23RiversideCalifornia
24AnaheimCalifornia
25ColumbusOhio
26HendersonNevada
27RaleighNorth Carolina
28LexingtonKentucky
29WashingtonDistrict of Columbia
30Long BeachCalifornia

New York City boroughs

As the city proper with the nation's largest Chinese-American population by a wide margin, with an estimated 562,205 in 2016 by the 2010-2016 American Community Survey, and as the primary destination for new Chinese immigrants, New York City is subdivided into official municipal boroughs, which themselves are home to significant Chinese populations, with Brooklyn and Queens, adjacently located on Long Island, leading the fastest growth. After the City of New York itself, the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn encompass the largest Chinese populations, respectively, of all municipalities in the United States.
RankBoroughCountyChinese-AmericansPercentage
1Queens Queens
2Brooklyn Kings
3Manhattan New York
4Staten IslandRichmond
5The BronxBronx

Medium-sized cities

List of medium-sized cities with a Chinese-American population of at least one percent of the total population, according to the American Community Survey.

Small-sized cities

The following is a list of places in the United States with a population fewer than 100,000 in which at least three percent of the total population is Chinese, according to the 2010-2015 American Community Survey, and the 2010 U.S. Census for the U.S. territories.

American Samoa

RankCityPercentage
1Atu'u

California

CityCountyChinese-AmericansPercentage
DavisYolo
Isla VistaSanta Barbara
FlorinSacramento

;Greater Los Angeles Area
The majority of the Chinese-American population of more than 400,000 in Los Angeles County lives within the San Gabriel Valley, which is particularly noted for cities that have a large Chinese-American ethnic plurality. The following cities have the highest percentage of Chinese-Americans in Greater Los Angeles.
;San Francisco Bay Area
Traditionally centered in San Francisco and Chinatown Oakland, the suburbanization of the Bay Area's Chinese-American population has resulted in significant concentrations in the southwestern East Bay, eastern Peninsula, and northern Santa Clara County. Chinese enclaves have also formed in many of these cities, in a similar manner to that of Southern California's San Gabriel Valley.

Delaware

RankCityPercentage
1Hockessin

Georgia

RankCityPercentage
1Berkeley Lake, Georgia
2Duluth, Georgia
3Doraville, Georgia

Guam

RankCityPercentage
1Tamuning
2Hagåtña

Hawaii

Indiana

RankCityPercentage
1West Lafayette
2Carmel

New Jersey

Northern Mariana Islands

RankCityPercentage
1Tinian
2Saipan

Within Saipan, villages with significant Chinese populations include Garapan, Chalan Piao, Chalan Kanoa IV, and San Antonio.

Ohio

RankCityPercentage
1Glenwillow
2Solon
3Oxford
4Athens
5Dublin

Texas

RankCityPercentage
1Sugar Land
2New Territory
3Bellaire
4Richardson
5Jollyville

Washington

The overwhelming majority of these cities are in King County, while three others are in Snohomish County. Pullman is in Whitman County.
RankCityPercentage
1Newcastle
2Redmond
3Sammamish
4Mercer Island
5Clyde Hill
6Pullman
7West Lake
8Bryn Mawr-Skyway
9Shoreline