Japanese Americans: By the Numbers

AAPI Data Guide for a Fast-Growing Community

This resource guide is designed to provide key insights and perspectives pertaining to Japanese Americans. Drawing on disaggregated findings from AAPI Data’s surveys, data products, publications, and other sources, this resource is part of an ongoing series of resource guides that inspire data-informed insights of particular Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Please check aapidata.com/resource-guides frequently for new resource guides like this one.

Last updated: August 6, 2025

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The Japanese American Electorate

Population Characteristics (National)

  • Japanese Americans are the sixth largest single-origin Asian group in the country (741,544), with approximately half the number of residents than Korean Americans, the next largest origin group who numbered about 1.5 million in 2020. (AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

  • The 2020 Census counted 845,108 Japanese Americans who identify with more than one race, bringing the total who identify as Japanese American to nearly 1,586,652. (AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

Population Characteristics (State)

  • Japanese Americans tend to be highly concentrated in a handful of states, with 30% living in California, another 20% in Hawaii, and 6% in Washington. (Source: AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

Table 1. Top 5 states of residence for Japanese Americans

(Source: AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

StatePopulation
California469,915
Hawaii312,668
Washington89,012
Texas65,613
New York63,410

Population Growth

  • The Japanese American population grew by 22% nationally between 2010 and 2020. (See Ethnicity alone/combination growth data in AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

  • The Japanese American population grew by 65% or more in five U.S. states between 2010 and 2020.

Table 2. U.S. States, by Japanese American Pop. Growth (2010-2020)

(Source: AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

StatePop. Growth (2010-2020)
North Dakota97%
Texas74%
Maine69%
Alabama68%
South Carolina65%

Eligible Voters

Table 3. Top U.S. States for Eligible Japanese American Voters

(Source: AAPI Data’s analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year File)

StatePop. of Eligible Voters
California167,029
Hawaii131,465
Washington22,365
New York17,128
Texas12,514

Voter Turnout

  • Japanese Americans had one of the highest levels of turnout among Asian American voters in 2020 at 66%. (AAPI Data analysis)
  • Japanese Americans had one of the highest levels of turnout among Asian American voters in 2024 at 70%. (AAPI Data analysis)

Japanese Americans in Elected Offices

Congressional Representatives

  • There are four Japanese American members of Congress: Doris Matsui (D-CA); Mark Takano (D-CA); Mazie Hirono (D-HI); Jill Tokuda (D-HI).

The 2024 Election

Voter Intent & Method

  • 95% of Japanese American voters are planning to vote this November, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released in September. This is similar to the number of Japanese Americans who said they planned to vote in the 2020 election. (2020 Asian American Voter Survey)
    • This number is also on par with the 93% of Japanese Americans who said they were planning to vote when asked in April/May 2024. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • Over 4 in 10 Japanese American voters (42%) prefer to vote in-person at a polling place, while 1 in 3 prefer to vote by mail (36%), and nearly 1 in 5 prefer to vote by dropping off their ballots at an election office, polling place or ballot box (19%). (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

Political Party Identification

  • Over half of Japanese American voters (55%) identify as Democrat or lean Democrat (vs. 58% in 2020). (2024 and 2020 Asian American Voter Surveys)

  • About 1 in 3 Japanese American voters (32%) identify as Republican or lean Republican (vs. 31% in 2020). (2024 and 2020 Asian American Voter Surveys)

  • About 1 in 10 Japanese American voters (11%) identify as an independent (the same as in 2020). When excluding those who lean toward either the Democratic or Republican Party, over a quarter are pure independents (27%). (2024 and 2020 Asian American Voter Surveys)

Presidential Candidate Favorability

  • If the election were being held today, two-thirds of Japanese American voters (67%) indicated they would vote for Kamala Harris, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released in September.
    • This compares to half of Japanese American voters (50%) who indicated they would vote for Joe Biden in April/May 2024 — an 11 percentage point difference from those who said the same in 2020 (61%). (2020 and 2024 Asian American Voter Survey)
  • Over a quarter of Japanese American voters (27%) indicated they would vote for Donald Trump, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released in September — which compares to 24% who indicated the same in 2020. (2020 Asian American Voter Survey)
    • This also compares to the 30% of Japanese American voters who indicated they would vote for Trump when asked in April/May 2024. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

Table 4. Favorability of Kamala Harris Among Japanese American Voters

(Sources: 2024 AAPI Voter Survey and AAPI Data | AP-NORC Survey — October 2023)

OpinionAs of Oct. 2023As of Sep. 2024Percent Difference
Favorable (“somewhat” or “very”)46%65%19% (+)
Unfavorable (“somewhat” or “very”)51%35%16% (—)
Haven’t heard of / Don’t know enough about3%4%1% (+)

Policy Perspectives

Abortion & Reproductive Rights

  • A majority of Japanese American adults (75%) believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases and want Congress to pass a law guaranteeing access nationwide (74%). (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • More than 9 in 10 Japanese American adults (95%) support legal abortion in cases where a pregnant person’s health is at risk, for instances of rape or incest, or the presence of a fatal fetal abnormality — and majority (64%) support legal abortion for any reason. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • More than a third of Japanese American adults believe that abortion is too difficult to access for people in their community (37%). (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • Nearly half of Japanese American voters (45%) rank abortion or reproductive rights as an issue that is extremely or very important in personally deciding how to vote in November. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • Three quarters of Japanese American adults (75%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on abortion. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Climate Change

  • Overall, Japanese American adults express less concern about climate change’s impact on others than AAPI adults generally.
    • Almost a third of Japanese Americans are extremely concerned about climate change’s impact on low-income people (39%) and over half are concerned about its impact on coastal communities (54%). (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

When compared to AAPI adults generally, Japanese American adults are more likely to have contacted their elected representatives regarding energy/climate policy (13% vs. 9%), but slightly less likely to have volunteered with or donated to environmental organizations (9% vs. 10%) in the last year.

  • Over half of Japanese American voters (56%) rank the environment and climate change as an issue that is extremely or very important in personally deciding how to vote in November. Majority of Japanese American voters (67%) also agree that Congress and the president should pass stronger legislation to reduce the effects of climate change.(2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • A majority of Japanese American adults (65%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on climate change. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Gun Control

  • Two thirds of Japanese American voters (66%) rank gun control as an issue that is extremely or very important  in personally deciding how to vote in November, including 34% who ranked it as extremely important. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • More than 8 out of 10 Japanese American voters (83%) agree we should have stricter gun laws in the United States — with 52% agreeing very strongly. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • A large share of Japanese American adults (61%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on gun policy. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Immigration

  • Most Japanese American voters (63%) rank immigration as an issue that is extremely or very important in personally deciding how to vote in November. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • Two thirds of Japanese American adults (66%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on immigration. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Sources:

  • AAPI Data’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. (2023). American Community Survey (ACS), 2022 Five-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). https://data.census.gov/

  • AAPI Data’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. (2022). American Community Survey (ACS), 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year File. https://data.census.gov/