2025

Cities in Thurston County, WA ranked by Asian Population

This list ranks the 7 cities in Thurston 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 Thurston County

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  • 1
    Lacey
    Asian population in Lacey is 8,118
    12.61% of Lacey population is Asian
  • 2
    Olympia
    Asian population in Olympia is 5,242
    8.40% of Olympia population is Asian
  • 3
    Tumwater
    Asian population in Tumwater is 2,031
    6.73% of Tumwater population is Asian
  • 4
    Yelm
    Asian population in Yelm is 395
    3.15% of Yelm population is Asian
  • 5
    Tenino
    Asian population in Tenino is 157
    6.59% of Tenino population is Asian

List of 7 cities in Thurston County, WA by Asian Population

View Methodology
Rank by Asian Population
City
Asian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Thurston County Asian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Lacey 8,118 12.61% 50.77%
2 Olympia 5,242 8.40% 32.78%
3 Tumwater 2,031 6.73% 12.70%
4 Yelm 395 3.15% 2.47%
5 Tenino 157 6.59% 0.98%
6 Rainier 44 1.64% 0.28%
7 Bucoda 3 0.55% 0.02%

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 Thurston County, WA 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 Thurston 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.