California Asian Centers Become Richer, More Asian
By James Moreau | 05 May, 2025

Home to the largest Asian American population in the U.S., California is witnessing a surge and clustering of its diverse Asian communities, with staggering incomes to boot.

California, the most populous U.S. state, also boasts the highest Asian American share on the mainland at 18.4%, for a total exceeding 7 million. This trend has continued recently, with California gaining the most Asians nationally in absolute numbers over 1-, 5-, and 10-year periods.  Asians now surpass 50% in 11 California cities.

The San Francisco Bay area’s Milpitas is the city with the nation’s highest Asian concentration at 76.4%. Asian growth has outpaced the city’s total growth by nearly 4,000 residents over the past decade. 

Fremont, home to a Tesla plant and Western Digital offices, boasts a $206,000 median Asian household income, 91% above whites.  Its Indian percentage is 31.6% of the total population, the highest among U.S. cities.

Meanwhile, Daly City has the nation's highest Filipino population share at 30%.  Many are healthcare workers employed by Seton Medical Center, the city’s largest employer.

The quiet Bay Area bedroom community of Dublin boasts a median household income of over $241,000 among the Asian residents making up 54% of its population.  

Over the past decade Union City’s total and Asian populations shrank 10% and 4%, respectively, while its Chinese population grew 32%.  Its median Asian household income is $180,319, 58% above whites. 

Another center of affluence is leafy San Ramon whose Asian households enjoy a median household income of over $233,000.   The town’s total population shrank by a thousand over the past year but Chinese and Viet residents increased by 5,500, producing Asian growth of 9.3% to comprise 56% of the total population. 

Santa Clara, home to Intel and AMD, has an Asian median household income of $206,889, 47% above whites. Over the past decade Santa Clara added over 14,000 Asian residents. 

Sunnyvale, home to tech giants Google and Apple, has a median Asian household income of $204,891.  Over ten years its Asian makeup has grown from 45% to 53%.  

San Jose, Silicon Valley’s biggest city and California’s 3rd biggest, has the nation’s largest Vietnamese population at 103,284, comprising 10.7% of total residents.

In SoCal Westminster’s Little Saigon is home to 40,000 Vietnamese who comprise 81% of the city’s Asian residents who make up 56% of the population. 

Irvine is 53% Asian, up 11% from 42% a decade ago.  Its Chinese population doubled while it saw a recent surge in Korean and Filipino residents.  On the other hand, the Indian population decreased.  After UC Irvine the biggest employer is game developer Blizzard Entertainment, known for World of Warcraft. 

Fullerton and Buena Park, both around 1/3rd Asian, have the highest percentage of Koreans in the U.S at roughly 12% each.

The vibrant Chinese restaurant scene in Alhambra is supported by its 51% Asian population, with Chinese making up 63% of Asians and 32% of the city’s total.  That makes it the city with the nation’s highest Chinese percentage. 

The city of Los Angeles is home to the biggest Korean (95,390) and Filipino (133,466) populations nationally.  The total number of Asian residents in LA has increased over 65,000, with a 26,000 jump in just the past year.