Where Do the Most Japanese Americans Live?

Japanese Americans are one of the oldest and most geographically distinctive Asian American communities. The U.S. Census Bureau counts 743,365 people of Japanese origin, and unlike most immigrant-origin groups, this one is not concentrated in the big gateway cities of the East Coast. Its two centers are California and Hawaii, and Hawaii's share is so large it reshapes the entire map.

Largest Japanese populations by state

Hawaii is the anchor no other group has

The single most important fact about this map is Hawaii. With 168,487 residents of Japanese origin, a state with only about 1.4 million people holds more than a fifth of all Japanese Americans, the legacy of plantation-era migration that began in the 1880s. The Urban Honolulu metro alone counts 134,719, second only to Los Angeles among all metros, and the city of Honolulu leads every city in the country at 57,226. Add the Big Island's Hilo (17,516) and towns like Pearl City and East Honolulu, and Hawaii's Japanese American community is woven into the islands in a way no mainland group matches.

Largest Japanese populations by metro area

California's community is bigger and more spread out

California holds the most Japanese Americans of any state at 249,556, but they are dispersed across the big metros rather than concentrated in one enclave. Los Angeles is the mainland heart with 123,603, and the city of Los Angeles counts 27,763. The clearest signature is Torrance in the South Bay, which with 14,025 residents of Japanese origin is the third-largest city for the group in the country and home to a dense cluster of Japanese businesses, markets, and corporate offices. The Bay Area and San Jose add tens of thousands more.

Why this map looks different

Most origin groups in this series trace recent immigration, so they pile into whatever cities were receiving newcomers over the past few decades. Japanese Americans are different. Immigration from Japan slowed to a trickle generations ago, so today's population is overwhelmingly multi-generational and rooted where earlier waves settled: the plantations of Hawaii and the agricultural and urban communities of the West Coast. That history, not current migration, is why the map centers on Honolulu and Los Angeles rather than New York. The pattern stands in sharp contrast to a fast-growing recent-immigration group like the Indian American population.

To see the full ordering, compare the largest Japanese population metros, the largest Japanese population cities, and the largest Japanese population states. The highest Japanese share cities surface the Hawaii towns where the group makes up the largest slice, or read the fuller profile on the Japanese Americans origin page.

Sources

Population figures are for Japanese origin from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. Rankings referenced: largest Japanese population metros, largest Japanese population cities, and largest Japanese population states.