2025

Cities in San Diego County, CA ranked by Asian Population

This list ranks the 18 cities in San Diego County based on their Asian population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these cities over the past five years.
Updated Jan 24, 2025

Top 5 cities with the largest Asian population in San Diego County

View All
  • 1
    San Diego
    Asian population in San Diego is 292,012
    18.07% of San Diego population is Asian
  • 2
    Chula Vista
    Asian population in Chula Vista is 50,905
    14.13% of Chula Vista population is Asian
  • 3
    Oceanside
    Asian population in Oceanside is 19,647
    9.08% of Oceanside population is Asian
  • 4
    Carlsbad
    Asian population in Carlsbad is 15,206
    11.66% of Carlsbad population is Asian
  • 5
    Escondido
    Asian population in Escondido is 14,098
    7.60% of Escondido population is Asian

List of 18 cities in San Diego County, CA by Asian Population

View Methodology
Rank by Asian Population
City
Asian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total San Diego County Asian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 San Diego 292,012 18.07% 62.60%
2 Chula Vista 50,905 14.13% 10.91%
3 Oceanside 19,647 9.08% 4.21%
4 Carlsbad 15,206 11.66% 3.26%
5 Escondido 14,098 7.60% 3.02%
6 San Marcos 13,966 12.37% 2.99%
7 National City 10,617 15.37% 2.28%
8 8,668 15.67% 1.86%
9 8,101 6.67% 1.74%
10 8,096 6.36% 1.74%
11 5,793 8.06% 1.24%
12 5,442 7.74% 1.17%
13 4,840 6.98% 1.04%
14 3,683 10.88% 0.79%
15 2,713 8.24% 0.58%
16 1,375 9.67% 0.29%
17 1,063 5.10% 0.23%
18 240 5.58% 0.05%

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 cities in San Diego County, CA by their Asian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Asian Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Asian, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Asian alone, while others identify as Asian along with another race (such as Asian and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Asian .
  • We’ve used the “Asian alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Asian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

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

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.