Historical Census Records
Ethnic Groups in Los Angeles County
1850 to 1960

Chinatown in Los Angeles, 1922. Photo by Paul Grenbeaux, courtesy of Library of Congress.

Census Year Total Population White Black Chinese Indian Japanese Filipino Others
1850 3,530 3,518 12 --- --- --- --- ---
1860 11,333 11,246 87* 11 2,014 --- --- ---
1870 15,309 14,720 134 234 219 2 --- ---
1880 33,381 31,707 188 1,169 316 1 --- ---
1890 101,454 95,033 1,817 4,424 144 36 --- ---
1900 170,298 163,975 6,323 --- --- --- --- ---
1910 504,131 483,478 9,424 ** ** ** ** 11,229
1920 936,455 894,507 18,738 ** ** ** ** 23,210
1930 2,208,492 1,949,882 46,425 ** ** ** ** 212,185
1940 2,785,643 2,660,042 75,209 ** ** ** ** 50,392
1950 4,151,687 3,877,944 217,881 ** ** ** ** 55,862
1960 6,039,834 5,453,866 461,546 19,286 8,109 77,314 12,122 6,528

* black & mulatto
** Numbers included under OTHERS column

Source: The former University of Virginia Geospatial & Statistical Data Center


In 1850, the U.S. Census recorded 12 free blacks, 8 Jews and 2 Chinese residing in Los Angeles County.