Korean 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 Korean 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 Korean American Electorate

Population Characteristics (National)

  • Korean Americans are the fifth largest single-origin Asian group in the country (1,508,575), with about 500,000 fewer residents than Vietnamese Americans, the next largest single-origin group who numbered about 2 million in 2020. (AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

  • The 2020 Census counted 480,944 Korean Americans who identify with more than one race, bringing the total who identify as Korean American to nearly 1,989,519. (AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

Population Characteristics (State)

  • Korean Americans tend to be highly concentrated in a handful of states, with 28% living in California, another 8% in New York, and 6% in Texas. (Source: AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

Table 1. Top 5 states of residence for Korean Americans

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

StatePopulation
California564,015
New York160,603
Texas116,998
New Jersey109,965
Washington101,338

Population Growth

  • The Korean American population grew by 17% nationally between 2010 and 2020. (See Ethnicity alone/combination growth data in AAPI Data’s AANHPI Community Counts Dashboard)

  • The Korean American population grew by 40% or more in five U.S. states between 2010 and 2020.

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

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

StatePop. Growth (2010-2020)
Alabama61%
North Dakota58%
Idaho51%
South Carolina44%
Montana40%

Eligible Voters

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

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

StatePop. of Eligible Voters
California303,254
New York83,068
New Jersey59,336
Texas54,445
Virginia53,671
  • When considering presidential battleground states, Korean Americans are one of the five largest groups of eligible AAPI voters (9%), following Indian Americans (21%), Chinese Americans (15%), Filipino Americans (15%), and Vietnamese Americans (11%). (AAPI Data’s analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year File)

Voter Turnout

  • Korean Americans had a somewhat low level of turnout among Asian American voters in 2020 at 60%. (AAPI Data analysis)
  • Korean Americans had a somewhat high level of turnout among Asian American voters in 2024 at 58%. (AAPI Data analysis)

Korean Americans in Elected Offices

Congressional Representatives

The 2024 Election

Voter Intent & Method

  • 99% of Korean American voters are planning to vote this November, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released in September. This compares to the 91% of Korean Americans who said they planned to vote in the 2020 election. (2020 Asian American Voter Survey)
    • This number is also an eight percentage point difference when compared to the 91% of Korean Americans who said they were planning to vote when asked in April/May 2024. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • Over half of Korean American voters (52%) prefer to vote in-person at a polling place, while over 1 in 3 (35%) prefer to vote by mail, and just under 1 in 10 (9%) prefer to vote by dropping off their ballots at an election office, polling place or ballot box. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

Political Party Identification

  • Over half of Korean American voters (52%) identify as Democrat or lean Democrat (vs. 54% in 2020). (2024 and 2020 Asian American Voter Surveys)

  • 1 in 3 Korean American voters (33%) identify as Republican or lean Republican (vs. 48% in 2020). (2024 and 2020 Asian American Voter Surveys)

  • 14% of Korean American voters identify as an independent (vs. 19% in 2020). When excluding those who lean toward either the Democratic or Republican Party, over one-third (35%) are pure independents. (2024 and 2020 Asian American Voter Surveys)

Presidential Candidate Favorability

  • If the election were being held today, nearly 2 in 3 Korean American voters (62%) indicated they would vote for Kamala Harris, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released in September.
    • This compares to the 49% of Korean American voters who indicated they would vote for Joe Biden in April/May 2024 — an 8 percentage point difference from those who said the same in 2020 (57%). (2020 and 2024 Asian American Voter Survey)
  • Nearly 1 in 3 Korean American voters (35%) indicated they would vote for Donald Trump, according to the 2024 AAPI Voter Survey released in September — which compares to the 1 in 4 (26%) who indicated the same in 2020. (2020 Asian American Voter Survey)
    • This also compares to the 27% of Korean 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 Korean 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”)34%58%24% (+)
Unfavorable (“somewhat” or “very”)52%38%14% (—)
Haven’t heard of / Don’t know enough about14%4%10% (—)

Policy Perspectives

Abortion & Reproductive Rights

  • A majority of Korean American adults (80%) believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases and want Congress to pass a law guaranteeing access nationwide (71%). (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • More than 9 in 10 Korean American adults (98%) 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 the majority (67%) support legal abortion for any reason. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • More than a third of Korean American adults believe that abortion is too difficult to access for people in their community (39%). (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • Six in 10 Korean American voters (62%) 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)

  • Six in 10 Korean American adults (65%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on abortion. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Climate Change

  • Overall, Korean American adults express great concern about climate change’s impact.
    • A majority of Korean Americans are extremely concerned about climate change’s impact on low-income people (61%) and coastal communities (51%). (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • When compared to AAPI adults generally, Korean American adults are more likely to have contacted their elected representatives regarding energy/climate policy (11% vs. 9%) and are more likely to have volunteered with or donated to environmental organizations (20% vs. 16%) in the last year. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

  • A large share of Korean American voters (64%) rank the environment and climate change as an issue that is extremely or very important in personally deciding how to vote in November. A majority of Korean American voters (70%) agree that Congress and the president should pass stronger legislation to reduce the effects of climate change. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • Over half of Korean American adults (57%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on climate change. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Gun Control

  • Over 7 in 10 Korean American voters (72%) rank gun control as an issue that is important in personally deciding how to vote in November, including 35% who ranked it as extremely important. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • 7 in 10 Korean American voters (70%) agree we should have stricter gun laws in the United States — with 52% agreeing very strongly. (2024 Asian American Voter Survey)

  • More than two-thirds of Korean American adults (71%) say they could not vote for a candidate with opposing views on gun policy. (AAPI Data | AP-NORC poll)

Immigration

  • Most Korean 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)

  • About six in ten Korean American adults (59%) 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/