Guatemalan Population in California by County : 2025 Ranking & Insights

According to the latest U.S. Census estimates, California is home to 486,910 Guatemalan residents. Los Angeles County contains the largest Guatemalan community with 280,504 individuals, followed by San Bernardino County (25,699), Riverside County (25,389), and several other counties contributing to this statewide total. The remaining difference may reflect Guatemalan populations in lower-population counties not listed above or minor reporting adjustments in the census data. This demographic breakdown ranks all counties in California by their Guatemalan population, offering insights into community patterns across the state.

Top 5 counties with the largest Guatemalan population in California

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  • 1
    Los Angeles County
    Guatemalan population in Los Angeles County is 280,504
    2.85% of Los Angeles County population is Guatemalan
  • 2
    San Bernardino County
    Guatemalan population in San Bernardino County is 25,699
    1.17% of San Bernardino County population is Guatemalan
  • 3
    Riverside County
    Guatemalan population in Riverside County is 25,389
    1.04% of Riverside County population is Guatemalan
  • 4
    Orange County
    Guatemalan population in Orange County is 23,032
    0.73% of Orange County population is Guatemalan
  • 5
    Alameda County
    Guatemalan population in Alameda County is 20,818
    1.26% of Alameda County population is Guatemalan

Overview of Guatemalan population in California

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey documents California with 486,910 Guatemalan residents (1.2% of 39.2 million total state population), ranking the state at the 100th percentile nationally among U.S. jurisdictions for Guatemalan demographic representation.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: U.S. Census data records indicate California's Guatemalan population of 1.2% exceeds the national average of 0.55% by a factor of 2.3.
  • Share of Total National Population: Official American Community Survey data indicates California's 486,910 Guatemalan residents constitute 26.8% of the nation's total Guatemalan population of 1.8 million, placing the state among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 26.8% of all American Guatemalan Americans residing within state boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document California with 3.1 Guatemalan Americans per square mile, just over six times the national average density of 0.51 per square mile, placing the state among jurisdictions with significantly elevated demographic concentrations nationally.
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55 Counties in California Ranked by Guatemalan Population

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show Guatemalan population in California distributed across multiple counties, led by Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Orange County, while several other counties recorded no residents identified as Americans of full or partial Guatemalan descent. The table below provides broader statistics, including total population figures, density measures, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for all counties included in this analysis*.
counties in California ranked by Guatemalan population count
Rank by Guatemalan Population
County
Guatemalan Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total California Guatemalan Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Los Angeles County 280,504 2.85% 57.61%
2 San Bernardino County 25,699 1.17% 5.28%
3 Riverside County 25,389 1.04% 5.21%
4 Orange County 23,032 0.73% 4.73%
5 Alameda County 20,818 1.26% 4.28%
6 San Diego County 15,714 0.48% 3.23%
7 Marin County 11,652 4.50% 2.39%
8 11,443 1.54% 2.35%
9 10,785 0.93% 2.22%
10 7,227 0.38% 1.48%
11 6,960 0.83% 1.43%
12 6,441 0.41% 1.32%
13 6,002 0.66% 1.23%
14 4,885 0.58% 1.00%
15 4,004 0.51% 0.82%
16 3,275 0.73% 0.67%
17 3,033 0.30% 0.62%
18 2,913 0.66% 0.60%
19 2,835 0.60% 0.58%
20 2,202 0.45% 0.45%
21 1,852 1.36% 0.38%
21 1,852 0.34% 0.38%
22 1,291 0.30% 0.27%
23 963 0.34% 0.20%
24 757 0.18% 0.16%
25 702 0.32% 0.14%
26 675 0.25% 0.14%
27 564 0.20% 0.12%
28 544 0.36% 0.11%
29 446 0.25% 0.09%
30 445 0.28% 0.09%
31 326 0.33% 0.07%
32 249 0.24% 0.05%
33 193 0.11% 0.04%
34 192 0.09% 0.04%
35 177 0.27% 0.04%
36 169 0.12% 0.03%
37 111 0.24% 0.02%
38 97 0.05% 0.02%
39 94 0.50% 0.02%
40 91 0.11% 0.02%
41 80 0.18% 0.02%
42 53 0.08% 0.01%
43 43 0.10% 0.01%
44 32 0.10% 0.01%
45 31 0.06% 0.01%
46 18 0.02% 0.00%
47 14 0.11% 0.00%
48 10 0.03% 0.00%
49 4 0.01% 0.00%
50 1 0.00% 0.00%
51 0 - -
51 0 - -
51 0 - -
51 0 - -
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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 county in California by their Guatemalan population, using the most recent ACS data available.

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

How We Ranked the Data

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

Sources

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