American Indian dancers. Photo by LeeTravathan via Pixabay.com.
Also see: American Indian & Alaska Native by City and Community
and 2000 Census Figures
Although Los Angeles County is home to the largest concentration of persons in the United States claiming to be fully or partly of American Indian descent, it is only the second largest population in the United States claiming to be fully American Indian and Alaska Native. Maricopa County, Arizona, ranks first. Los Angeles County, however, is home to the largest U.S. populations of ethnically indigenous people from Mexico, Central and South America.
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Total American Indian or Alaska Native | 71,471 | 100.00% | 73,393 | 100.00% |
| American Indian, Tribe Specified | 36,404 | 50.94% | 48,340 | 65.86% |
| Apache | 2,316 | 3.24% | 2,722 | 3.71% |
| Arapaho | 69 | 0.10% | 115 | 0.16% |
| Blackfeet | 420 | 0.59% | 468 | 0.64% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Canadian and French American Indian | 140 | 0.20% | 189 | 0.26% |
| Central American Indian | 1,349 | 1.89% | 1,611 | 2.20% |
| Cherokee | 2,608 | 3.65% | 3,297 | 4.49% |
| Cheyenne | 120 | 0.17% | 230 | 0.31% |
| Chickasaw | 181 | 0.25% | 134 | 0.18% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Chippewa | 427 | 0.60% | 318 | 0.43% |
| Choctaw | 866 | 1.21% | 536 | 0.73% |
| Colville | 42 | 0.06% | 39 | 0.05% |
| Comanche | 211 | 0.30% | 291 | 0.40% |
| Cree | 44 | 0.06% | 160 | 0.22% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Creek | 378 | 0.53% | 163 | 0.22% |
| Crow | 33 | 0.05% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Delaware | 76 | 0.11% | 66 | 0.09% |
| Hopi | 295 | 0.41% | 166 | 0.23% |
| Houma | 3 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Iroquois | 288 | 0.40% | 283 | 0.39% |
| Kiowa | 93 | 0.13% | 42 | 0.06% |
| Lumbee | 81 | 0.11% | 54 | 0.07% |
| Menominee | 20 | 0.03% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexican American Indian | 13,885 | 19.43% | 22,654 | 30.87% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Navajo | 2,338 | 3.27% | 2,157 | 2.94% |
| Osage | 92 | 0.13% | 73 | 0.10% |
| Ottawa | 42 | 0.06% | 12 | 0.02% |
| Paiute | 174 | 0.24% | 188 | 0.26% |
| Pima | 327 | 0.46% | 198 | 0.27% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Potawatomi | 141 | 0.20% | 129 | 0.18% |
| Pueblo | 746 | 1.04% | 935 | 1.27% |
| Puget Sound Salish | 31 | 0.04% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Seminole | 114 | 0.16% | 45 | 0.06% |
| Shoshone | 173 | 0.24% | 166 | 0.23% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Sioux | 851 | 1.19% | 667 | 0.91% |
| South American Indian | 476 | 0.67% | 908 | 1.24% |
| Spanish American Indian | 929 | 1.30% | 1,701 | 2.32% |
| Tohono O'Odham | 413 | 0.58% | 395 | 0.54% |
| Ute | 90 | 0.13% | 77 | 0.10% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Yakama | 23 | 0.03% | 7 | 0.01% |
| Yaqui | 1,045 | 1.46% | 1,501 | 2.05% |
| Yuman | 209 | 0.29% | 149 | 0.20% |
| All other American Indian tribes | 4,245 | 5.94% | 5,494 | 7.49% |
| American Indian, Tribe Not Specified | 3,769 | 5.27% | 4,688 | 6.39% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Alaska Native, Tribe Specified | 271 | 0.38% | 358 | 0.49% |
| Alaskan Athabascan | 59 | 0.08% | 71 | 0.10% |
| Aleut | 42 | 0.06% | 23 | 0.03% |
| Inupiat | 58 | 0.08% | 209 | 0.28% |
| Tlingit-Haida | 79 | 0.11% | 55 | 0.07% |
| Tribal Origin | 2010 Census | 2019 Census Estimates† | ||
| Population | Percent | Population | Percent | |
| Tsimshian | 14 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Yup'ik | 19 | 0.03% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Alaska Native, Tribe Not Specified | 37 | 0.05% | 84 | 0.11% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native, Tribe Not Specified | 30,990 | 43.36% | 18,132 | 24.71% |
| Two or More American Indian or Alaska Native Tribes | --- | --- | 1,791 | 2.44% |
* Here we use the term American Indian, versus Native American, because the U.S. Census Bureau uses this to refer to most indigenous people of the Americas. According to a 1995 Census Bureau study, 50% of people identifying themselves as indigenous preferred the term American Indian, 37% preferred Native American, and the remainder either preferred other terms or had no preference. The Census Bureau uses American Indian to include indigenous people of all the Americas (North and South America and the Carribbean) who are not Alaska Native or Hawaiian. In addition, the local indigenous people groups native to Los Angeles County use the term "Indian."
† American Community Survey estimate for 2019 calculated the five-year period of 2015-2019.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
