Indians in California Up Nearly 50%

The Indian American population in California rose from 360,392 residents in 2000 to 528,176 in 2010.

The Indian American population in California rose from 360,392 residents in 2000 to 528,176 in 2010, an increase of 46.4%, according to Census 2010 data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

New York state, by contrast, experienced a modest rise in what the Census Bureau calls the “Asian Indian only” population, going from 296,056 a decade ago to 313,620 in 2010, up just 5.9%.

In California, some cities saw an explosion in Indian American residents. Fremont passed Los Angeles to become the California city with the second largest population of Indian Americans.

San Jose remains first with 43,827 Indians, followed by 38,711 in Fremont and 32,996 in Los Angeles.

In 2000, the figures for Indian Americans in San Jose, Fremont and Los Angeles were 28,301, 21,618 and 29,604, respectively.

San Ramon in the East Bay, where public schools are highly thought of and new housing has been built in the decade, Indians skyrocketed from 1,463 in 2000 to 8,179 in 2010, a jump of 459%. Cupertino increased 189.9% in Indian American residents, from 4,546 in 2000 to 13,179 in 2010.

Elk Grove near Sacramento, another city that has built new homes, went from 1,645 Indians in 2000 to 4,968 in 2010, an increase of 202%. The East Bay city of Pleasanton, another area with good housing and schools, shot up 175.29% from 1,894 Indians in 2000 to 5,214 in 2010. Yuba City, a center for the Sikh American farming community, increased from 5,357 in 2000 to 8,863 in 2010.

The increase in Indian Americans in California, however, was not confined to the north. The Asian Indian population in Bakersfield more than doubled from 3,521 in 2000 to 7,328 in 2010. Irvine in Southern California saw its Indian American population grow 124% from 4,762 to 10,687 a decade later.

There was a 47.32% increase in the number of Indian Americans living in San Francisco from 2000 to 2010, likely due to young techies who have gravitated to start-up companies there. The count was 6,195 Asian Indians in 2000 and 9,747 in 2010.

Among California counties, Santa Clara rose from 70,159 in 2000 to 117,596 in 2010, while Los Angeles had a more modest increase from 71,265 to 79,169 Indian Americans.

Some counties with sizable jumps in Asian Indians counted were Fresno (from 9,408 to 15,469), San Joaquin (from 6,195 to 15,397), Alameda (from 47,194 to 72,169) and Contra Costa (from 13,376 to 18,255).

Indian Americans now constitute a sizeable share of the population in many cities in Silicon valley and the East Bay (see Table 1), an indication they will be a force in the future in politics and other local concerns.

Indian Americans now constitute 22.6% of the population in Cupertino, 18.08% in Fremont, 15.52% in Sunnyvale, 13.75% in Yuba City, 13.64% in Santa Clara, 11.46% in Union City and 11.34% in San Ramon.