Cities considered to have significant Chinese-American populations are large U.S. cities or municipalities with a critical mass of at least 1% of the total urban population; medium-sized cities with a critical mass of at least 1% of their total population; and small cities with a critical mass of at least 10% of the total population.

According to the 2012 Census estimates,^[7] the three metropolitan areas with the largest Chinese-American populations were the Greater New York Combined Statistical Area at 735,019 people, the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area at 629,243 people, and the Greater Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area at about 566,968 people. In the post-1965 era, first- and second-generation immigrants include those from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Also included in the Chinese-American population enumeration are ethnic Chinese from Malaysia and Vietnam who might identify themselves as Chinese, thus skewing the census reporting.

New York City is home to by far the highest Chinese-American population of any city proper, with an estimated 573,388 Chinese-Americans in New York City,^[1] significantly higher than the total of the next five cities combined; multiple large Chinatowns in Manhattan, Brooklyn (three), and Queens (three) are thriving as traditionally urban enclaves, as large-scale Chinese immigration continues into New York,^{[8][9][10][11]} with the largest metropolitan Chinese population outside Asia.^[12] The Los Angeles County city of Monterey Park has the highest percentage of Chinese-Americans of any municipality, at 43.7% of its population, or 24,758 people. The San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County is the single largest concentration of combined Chinese and Taiwanese Americans in the country,^[13] having a collections of U.S. suburbs with large foreign-born Chinese-speaking populations, ranging from working-class individuals residing in Rosemead and El Monte to wealthier immigrants living in Arcadia, San Marino, and Diamond Bar. A similar demographic shift has also taken place in the southern half of the San Francisco Bay Area. Conversely, the suburbs of New York City within the state of New Jersey are notable for their widespread and increasing prevalence of Chinese-Americans (see list below), reflecting their general affluence and propensity for professional occupation.

The list of metropolitan areas with a Chinese-American population of 20,000 or more as of the 2011-2015 American Community Survey^[update].

The list of large cities (population greater than 250,000) with a Chinese-American population of at least 1% of the total population, as of the 2011-2016 American Community Survey^[update].

List of medium-sized cities (population between 100,000 and 250,000) with a Chinese-American population of at least one percent of the total population, according to the American Community Survey.

The following is a list of places in the United States with a population fewer than 100,000 in which at least three percent (five percent in Los Angeles or San Francisco Bay areas) of the total population is Chinese, according to the 2010-2015 American Community Survey, and the 2010 U.S. Census for the U.S. territories.

• Chinatown
• List of U.S. cities with Asian American majority populations
• List of U.S. cities with large Japanese-American populations
• List of U.S. cities with significant Korean-American populations
• List of U.S. cities with large Vietnamese-American populations
• Lists of U.S. cities with large ethnic identity populations
• Palmdale, California