Friday, February 10, 2012

• Beginning with the 1990 Census, the City of San Jose no longer had a single race/ethnic group majority (i.e., 50% or more of the population). At that time, the City's non-Hispanic White population registered 49.6% of the total population, down from 63.8% of the total population in 1980.
• San Jose's race/ethnic diversity continued to increase during the 1990-2000 time period. The non-Hispanic White population declined further, to 36.0% of the total population in 2000. Conversely, strong growth occurred within the Asian population, rising from approximately 150,000 persons in 1990 (18.7% of the City's population) to 238,378 persons in 2000 (26.6% of the City's population). This growth was primarily attributed to substantial increases in the Vietnamese, Chinese, Asian Indian, and Filipino populations.
• The City of San Jose has by far the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the United States as a result of phenomenal growth during the past two decades. Numbering just 8,000 persons at the time of the 1980 Census, the Vietnamese population rose to about 40,000 persons in 1990, and then doubled to nearly 80,000 persons in 2000. Thus, the number of Vietnamese persons in San Jose increased ten-fold over the last twenty years, and now accounts for 8.8% of the City's total population.
• The City's Hispanic population experienced tremendous increase throughout the course of the last twenty years, roughly doubling in size from about 140,000 persons in 1980 to nearly 270,000 persons in 2000. As a proportion of the City's total population, the Hispanic population rose steadily from 22.3% in 1980, to 26.6% in 1990, and then to 30.2% in 2000. Of the City's Hispanic population in 2000, 81.9% was of Mexican descent.
• San Jose currently has a single race/ethnic group majority in six of its ten City Council Districts. Namely, Districts 6, 9, and 10 each contain a non-Hispanic White majority (55.7%, 69.2%, and 58.1%, respectively), Districts 3 and 5 each contain a Hispanic majority (58.1% and 58.0%, respectively), and District 4 contains an Asian majority (52.1%). With no single race/ethnic group majority, the remaining four City Council Districts (1, 2, 7, and 8) thus contain a diverse mix of the aforementioned and other race/ethnic groups.
• Hispanics are the most geographically concentrated major race/ethnic group in San Jose. According to the 2000 Census, Hispanic persons comprised over two-thirds of the population in fifteen census tracts, which tracts are primarily within or near the Downtown area. The highest concentrations of Hispanic persons in the City are found in the Washington and Mayfair neighborhoods, which are 81.0% and 80.1% Hispanic, respectively.

Last Modified Date: 4/9/2010

City Home - City Services - About San José - Visitors - Feedback - Search

As a customer-driven organization, the City of San José welcomes any suggestions you might have to help us serve you better.