Asian Americans in California are concentrated in the San Francisco-San José and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.
Including those with partial Asian ancestry, the following Asian ethnic groups in California are: Filipino (3.9%, 1,474,707), Chinese (except Taiwanese; 3.6%, 1,349,111), Vietnamese (858,589, 1.7%), Indian (666,445, 1.5%), Koreans (505,225, 1.3%), Japanese (428,014, 1.1%), Taiwanese (109,928, 0.2%), Cambodians (102,317, 0.2%), Hmong (91,224, 0.2%), Laotians (69,303, 0.2%), Thai (67,707, 0.1%), Pakistanis (53,474, 0.1%), Indonesians (39,506, 0.1%), Burmese (17,978, 0.05%), Sri Lankans (11,929, 0.03%), Bangladeshis (10,494, 0.03%), Nepalese (6,231, 0.01%), Malaysians (5,595, 0.01%), Mongolians (4,993, 0.1%), Singaporeans (1,513, 0.004%), Okinawans (1,377, 0.003%), and Bhutanese (750, 0.001%).
However, income average varies with Asian groups, from Cambodians and Hmong to Taiwanese and Indians.
Cambodian and Southeast Asian-dominant street gangs such as the Asian Boyz, which is an off-shoot of the African American and Los Angeles based Crips gang, formed in Los Angeles County the late 1970s to the 1980s during the Cambodian refuge migration to the US, especially in Long Beach, Fresno, Sacramento, Oakland, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Lowell, Massachusetts.
In the East Bay, many in San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, Oakland, Walnut Creek, and Piedmont.
Areas with notable Chinese and Chinese-American populations include Chinatown, parts of San Fernando Valley, and Westwood in Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley, the 626 (Arcadia, Alhambra, El Monte, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Temple City), Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, Hacienda Heights, and the Los Angeles County/Orange County border cities of Cerritos and Artesia.
San Diego has Chinese communities in Torrey Pines and Ranchos Penasquitos, and there are sizeable numbers in other County cities such as Carlsbad and Poway.
According to a 2013 study, there are 1.5 million Filipino Americans in California,[5] making them one of the largest Asian ethnic groups in the state.
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to the second largest Indian-American population in the United States.
Kamala Harris, former Vice President of the United States, is of Indian origin and was born in Oakland, CA.
There are several areas of California that held assembly centers and internment camps (also known as relocation centers) where Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, such as Arcadia(Santa Anita Racetrack), Fresno(Fresno Fairgrounds), Arboga, Merced, Owens Valley(Manzanar War Relocation Center), Pinedale(Pinedale, California), Pomona(Fairplex), Sacramento(Camp Kohler), Salinas(California Rodeo Salinas), San Bruno(Tanforan), Stockton, California(San Joaquin County Fairgrounds), Tulare, Turlock(Stanislaus County Fairgrounds), and Woodland.
The Tule Lake War Relocation Center in Modoc County was the biggest of the 10 internment camps in its prime.
Koreans make up 16% of the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community in Los Angeles County, the highest percentage in the entire country.
[11] There are many Koreans in Fullerton and Irvine in Orange County, and a significant community in Cupertino, Santa Clara and San Francisco.
Little Saigon, San Diego in City Heights has a Vietnamese community, and they can be found in Ranchos Penasquitos.
This is a list of notable people of Asian descent who were either born, raised, or spent a significant amount of time in California.