White Americans in California

White Californians are white Americans living in California who currently make up 71.9% of the state's population.

As of 2015, California has the third-largest minority population in the United States. Non-Hispanic whites decreased from about 76.3–78% of the state's population in 1970 to 36.5% in 2019. It was estimated in 2015 that Hispanic and Latino Americans became more numerous than non-Hispanic White Americans for the first time. Since 2000 (the US Census), California has been known as the second state in US history (after Hawaii since its statehood in 1959) to have a non-white majority. The most common European ancestries in California are German, Irish, English, Italian, French, Scottish, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, and Portuguese. Arabs, Afghans, Armenians, and Persians are counted as white in California. Most people who identify as white in California say their heritage is Mexican, German, Irish, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Scottish, Polish, Salvadoran, Swedish, Portuguese, Dutch, or Armenian. There is also a sizable Iranian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek, Hungarian, Austrian, Danish, Lithuanian, Finnish, Lebanese, Ukrainian, white Australian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak and Albanian population in California. California is also home to a large Jewish community.

History

The first White people to come to the modern-day State of California were the Spanish people. The area that became California was a part of the Spanish Empire, and after 1821, part of Mexico. While under Spanish and Mexican rule, California's population was a diverse mix of people with White, Mestizo, African and Indigenous ancestry, with Native people being the largest population. By 1846, more White Americans had begun to enter California from other parts of the United States, making up 10% of the non-Native population.

The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. In 1848, there were 7,000 persons of Mexican and Spanish descent, 700 Americans, 200 Europeans, and 110,000 Native Americans. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people throughout the Gold Rush to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Two-thirds of these new arrivals were Americans, mostly from the Atlantic Seaboard.
In 1850, a year after California's admission to the United States, the first state census showed California's entire non-Native population at 92,597.

As a result of new arrivals from the American Midwest and continued immigration to the United States from other countries, California's White population grew, and by 1940, 90% of the state self-identified as White. By 1990, following increased arrivals into the state of people of other races and nationalities, the White non-hispanic population had decreased, with 43% of the state population claiming Asian, African, Latin American or Native American ancestry.

By region

San Francisco Bay Area

In 2000 the racial makeup of the nine-county Bay Area was 3,941,687 (58.1%) white and 3,392,204 (50.0%) non-Hispanic white.

In 2010 the Bay Area was 3,755,823 (52.5%) White, and 3,032,903 (42.4%) non-Hispanic white.

The percentage of non-Hispanic white people in the overall Bay Area is projected to decrease, while the percentage of non-Hispanic white people in the city of San Francisco is projected to increase.

Central Valley

White Americans are the majority of the population in the Central Valley.

Los Angeles metropolitan area

54.6% White, 32.2% white alone. Malibu, Hidden Hills, Manhattan Beach, Agua Dulce, Calabasas and Agoura Hills have the highest percentage of whites in Los Angeles County. Whites in the Los Angeles area are also concentrated in Hollywood Hills, Bel Air and North San Gabriel Valley.

By county

Colusa County has the highest white percentage of any county in California.

Politics

Non-Hispanic whites make up 60% of registered voters in California.

47% of Californian whites voted for Donald Trump and 51% of whites voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

50% of whites in California voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 while 45% voted for Trump in 2016. White men in California showed a slightly more preference for Trump. 50% of white men in California voted for Trump and 57% of white women voted for Clinton.

Future

The non-Hispanic white population as a percentage of the whole is projected to decrease in California.

Demographics

Notable people

*Kylie Jenner
*Katy Perry
*Billie Eilish
*Marilyn Monroe
*Gigi Hadid
*Kendall Jenner
*Kris Jenner
*Kim Kardashian
*Ben Affleck
*Angelina Jolie
* Leonardo DiCaprio
*Jennifer Aniston
*Michelle Pfeiffer
*Will Ferrell

See also

* Demographics of California
* Hispanics and Latinos in California
* Ukrainian Americans in Los Angeles
* Basque Americans in California
* Iranians in Los Angeles
* Armenians in Los Angeles
* Palestinians in Los Angeles
* Israelis in Los Angeles

References

Bibliography

* Maharidge, Dale, ''The Coming White Minority: California's Eruptions and America's Future'', 1996, Times Books,
* Sherburne Friend Cook, ''The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization'', 1943, University of California Press,

{{White people