Cities with significant Korean American populations represent municipalities with critical masses of Korean Americans in their total urban or suburban populations. Information is based on the 2005-2009 American Community Survey or as specified in each table. The list includes those who have emigrated from South Korea as well as Korean Americans of multiple generations. There are numbers of North Koreans living in the United States, despite North Korean citizens being unable to freely emigrate out of their country. As of 2022, Americans of Korean descent composed an estimate of 1.8 to 2 million people.
The three metropolitan areas with the highest Korean American populations as per the 2009 American Community Survey were the Greater Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area (300,000), the Greater New York Combined Statistical Area (200,000), and the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area (93,000). Southern California and the New York City Metropolitan Area have the largest populations of Koreans outside of the Korean Peninsula. Among Korean Americans born in Korea, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had 226,000 as of 2012; Greater New York (including Northern New Jersey) was home to 153,000 Korean-born Korean Americans; and metropolitan Washington, D.C., with 60,000.
By percentage, the Korean American population of Bergen County, New Jersey, in the New York City Metropolitan Area, at 6.5% of Bergen County's population in 2022, was the highest of any county in the United States. Bergen County, host to the county's highly ranked Academies magnet public high school as well as to the North American headquarters operations of South Korean chaebols including Samsung, LG Corp, and Hanjin Shipping, was home to all of the nation's top 10 municipalities by percentage of Korean population. These top 10 municipalities in the growing Korean hub of Bergen County, New Jersey, across the George Washington Bridge from New York City, were led by Palisades Park, the municipality with the highest density of ethnic Koreans in the Western Hemisphere. Displaying ubiquitous Hangul signage and known as the Korean Village, Palisades Park uniquely comprises a Korean majority, at 53.7% of the borough's population in 2022. with both the highest Korean-American density and percentage of any municipality in the United States. The city of Los Angeles contained the highest Korean American population of any city proper in 2010, approximately 108,282.
Metropolitan areas The list of the ten largest U.S. metropolitan areas by Korean population based on mixed-race and mixed-group populations, regardless of Hispanic origin. Rank Metro Area Korean-Americans 2019 1 Los Angeles 2 New York 3 Washington 4 Seattle 5 Chicago 6 San Francisco 7 Atlanta 8 Philadelphia 9 Dallas 10 San Jose
Large cities The list of large cities (population greater than 250,000) with a Korean-American population of at least 1% of the total population. Rank City State Korean-Americans 2010 Percentage 2010 Korean-Americans 2015 Percentage 2015 1 Los Angeles California % % 2 Honolulu Hawaii % % 3 Anaheim California % % 4 San Jose California % % 5 New York City New York % % 6 Aurora Colorado % % 7 Anchorage Alaska % % 8 San Francisco California % % 9 Seattle Washington % % 10 Plano Texas % %
Medium-sized cities List of medium-sized cities (population between 100,000 and 250,000) with a Korean-American population of at least 1% of the total population. Rank City State Korean-Americans Percentage 1 Fullerton California % 2 Torrance California % 3 Irvine California % 4 Glendale California % 5 Santa Clara California % 6 Bellevue Washington % 7 Ann Arbor Michigan % 8 Schaumburg Illinois % 9 Killeen Texas % 10 Berkeley California % 11 Cambridge Massachusetts % 12 Fremont California % 13 Tacoma Washington % 14 Carrollton Texas % 15 Santa Clarita California %
Municipalities with density of at least 500 Korean Americans per square mile in 2010 Main articles: Koreatown, Palisades Park (팰리세이즈파크 코리아타운) and Koreatown, Fort Lee (포트리 코리아타운)
(Note that Manhattan and Queens are official boroughs of New York City.) Rank Municipality County or city State Korean Americans Density of Korean Americans per square mile Percentage of municipality's population 1 Palisades Park Bergen County New Jersey (2022) % 2 Fort Lee Bergen County New Jersey % 3 Edgewater Bergen County New Jersey % 4 Cliffside Park Bergen County New Jersey % 5 Leonia Bergen County New Jersey % 6 La Palma Orange County California % 7 Ridgefield Bergen County New Jersey % 8 Manhattan New York City New York % 9 Cerritos Los Angeles County California % 10 Cresskill Bergen County New Jersey % 11 Great Neck Plaza Nassau County New York % 12 Fullerton Orange County California % 13 River Edge Bergen County New Jersey % 14 Torrance Los Angeles County California % 15 Queens New York City New York % 16 Northvale Bergen County New Jersey % 17 Closter Bergen County New Jersey % 18 Englewood Cliffs Bergen County New Jersey %
Top ten municipalities as ranked by Korean-American percentage of total population in 2010 Rank Municipality County State Percentage 1 Palisades Park Bergen County New Jersey % (2022) 2 Leonia Bergen County New Jersey % 3 Ridgefield Bergen County New Jersey % 4 Fort Lee Bergen County New Jersey % 5 Closter Bergen County New Jersey % 6 Englewood Cliffs Bergen County New Jersey % 7 Norwood Bergen County New Jersey % 8 Edgewater Bergen County New Jersey % 9 Cresskill Bergen County New Jersey % 10 Demarest Bergen County New Jersey %
See also Koreatown Koreatown, Manhattan Koreatown, Long Island Koreatown, Los Angeles, California Koreatown, Palisades Park Koreatown, Fort Lee List of U.S. cities with Asian American majority populations List of U.S. cities with significant Chinese American populations History of the Korean Americans in Los Angeles Korean Americans in New York City Koreans in Chicago Korean diaspora Tech companies in the New York metropolitan area
References
Sources American Census U.S. Census website