RACIAL AND ETHNIC DEMOGRAPHICS IN CALIFORNIA 

2000 Census:  First decennial survey in which the majority of Californians (53.3%) identified as non-white. 

Latinos in California

• 11 million Latinos in California in 2000
• The majority of children born in California are Latino
• In 2006, the majority of kindergartners will be Latino
• By 2017, the majority of new workers entering the labor force will be Latino
• By 2020, Latinos will be 25% of the California population

Asian Americans in California

• 12.3% of California’s population in 2000 was Asian or of partial Asian descent
• Largest Ethnic Groups

Filipino American  - 981,000

Chinese American –  918,000

Vietnamese American – 447,000

Korean American -  346,000

South Asian American – 315,000

• The Asian population will account for 30% of all growth in California between 2000 and 2015 

Indian Americans

• California is home to 15.2% of the nation’s American Indian population
• Tribe most often identified with in California is Cherokee

Arab Populations

• Largest group is Lebanese – 33.6%
• Second largest is Egyptian -  13.1
• Other Sizable Groups

                  Syrian -        8.3

                  Palestinian -  5.9

                  Iraqi -             4.8

                  Jordanian -    4.2

Increase in Population Reporting Two or More Races

• 27.2% of children under 10 in California are of two or more races (vs. 7.4% ofpeople age 80+)
• 45.9% of American Indians also identify as Latino, as do 21.6% of Whites, 8.8% of Pacific Islanders, 3.6% of Blacks, 1.4% of Asian Americans 

Data compiled by Professor Rudy Busto, UCSB from the UC NewsWire (http://www.ucnewswire.org/news_viewer.cfm?story_PK=2469) and the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University. Website: www.stanford.edu/dept/csre.