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Ancestry refers to the lineage or descent of a person, family, or group, tracing back through generations to identify their origins, heritage, and familial connections. It encompasses the genetic, cultural, and historical ties that link individuals to their forebears, shaping their identity and sense of belonging. Ancestry is a multifaceted concept, intertwining biology, genealogy, history, and culture, and it plays a significant role in how people understand themselves and their place in the world.

At its core, ancestry is rooted in genetics. Each individual inherits a unique combination of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited their DNA from their own ancestors. This genetic material carries information about physical traits, predispositions to certain health conditions, and even behavioral tendencies. Advances in genetic testing, such as DNA analysis, have made it possible for individuals to trace their biological ancestry with remarkable precision. Companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA offer services that analyze genetic markers to provide insights into a person's ethnic composition and geographic origins, often revealing surprising connections to distant relatives or previously unknown heritage.

Beyond genetics, ancestry is deeply tied to genealogy, the study of family history and lineage. Genealogical research involves constructing family trees, documenting relationships, and uncovering historical records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, census data, and immigration documents. This process often reveals stories of migration, resilience, and adaptation, offering a window into the lives of ancestors and the challenges they faced. For many, genealogy is a way to honor their forebears and preserve their legacy for future generations.

Cultural ancestry is another critical dimension, encompassing the traditions, languages, customs, and values passed down through generations. It connects individuals to their ethnic or national heritage, shaping their cultural identity and worldview. For example, someone with Irish ancestry might celebrate St. Patrick's Day, learn traditional Irish dance, or explore the Gaelic language, while someone with Japanese ancestry might practice tea ceremonies, study calligraphy, or observe Obon festivals. Cultural ancestry fosters a sense of continuity and belonging, linking individuals to a broader community with shared experiences and values.

Historical ancestry delves into the broader context of a family's or group's past, including significant events, social conditions, and historical movements that shaped their lives. For instance, the transatlantic slave trade, the Irish Potato Famine, or the Jewish diaspora have profoundly influenced the ancestry of millions of people, leaving lasting imprints on their descendants' identities. Understanding historical ancestry often involves grappling with complex narratives of triumph and tragedy, resilience and oppression, and the interplay of individual and collective experiences.

Ancestry also has a deeply personal and emotional dimension. For many, exploring their ancestry is a journey of self-discovery, offering insights into who they are and where they come from. It can foster a sense of pride, connection, and continuity, as well as a deeper appreciation for the struggles and achievements of those who came before. At the same time, it can raise questions about identity, belonging, and the complexities of heritage, particularly for individuals with mixed or multicultural backgrounds.

In a globalized world, ancestry serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting individuals to their roots while also highlighting the interconnectedness of human history. It underscores the diversity and richness of human experience, reminding us that every person's story is part of a larger tapestry woven over centuries. Whether through genetic testing, genealogical research, cultural practices, or historical exploration, ancestry offers a profound way to understand ourselves and our place in the world.

A diversification score measures the diversity of ancestries in the county. As the value appoaches 100, ancestry diversity decreases and therefore increasing the risk of a lack of cultural diversity. The ancestry diversification score for this county is:

Most common ancestry not including "Unknown" is:

Ancestry Report Part I
Description	Total Population	American	Native American	Hawaiian	Caribbean (Latino)	Mexican	Central American	South American	Other Hispanic	African American	Sub- Saharan	Caribbean (Black)

Butte County	211,095	8,858	2,750	459	1,332	35,670	1,168	715	1,571	2,120	696	605
California (in 000's)	39,749	482	150	138	362	12,861	1,403	402	701	1,298	462	359
National (in 000's)	343,251	13,890	2,213	626	11,327	38,879	6,181	4,644	3,687	25,893	7,852	7,174
Sutter County	98,892	1,848	821	284	908	28,244	829	167	1,258	878	486	305
Yuba County	88,329	2,159	1,046	384	998	23,002	378	262	1,121	2,193	532	399
Tehama County	64,202	3,850	992	85	392	16,201	344	237	692	307	75	61
Glenn County	28,648	1,195	441	32	90	11,712	142	21	310	98	22	24
Colusa County	22,020	324	272	61	0	13,034	214	11	312	172	53	33
Plumas County	18,933	633	330	41	118	1,383	123	38	168	71	26	20

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Butte County	11.15	4.20	1.30	0.22	0.63	16.90	0.55	0.34	0.74	1.00	0.33	0.29
California	14.27	1.21	0.38	0.35	0.91	32.36	3.53	1.01	1.76	3.26	1.16	0.90
National	7.83	4.05	0.64	0.18	3.30	11.33	1.80	1.35	1.07	7.54	2.29	2.09
Sutter County	15.69	1.87	0.83	0.29	0.92	28.56	0.84	0.17	1.27	0.89	0.49	0.31
Yuba County	14.28	2.44	1.18	0.43	1.13	26.04	0.43	0.30	1.27	2.48	0.60	0.45
Tehama County	14.22	6.00	1.55	0.13	0.61	25.23	0.54	0.37	1.08	0.48	0.12	0.10
Glenn County	23.21	4.17	1.54	0.11	0.31	40.88	0.50	0.07	1.08	0.34	0.08	0.08
Colusa County	38.91	1.47	1.24	0.28	0.00	59.19	0.97	0.05	1.42	0.78	0.24	0.15
Plumas County	11.75	3.34	1.74	0.22	0.62	7.30	0.65	0.20	0.89	0.38	0.14	0.11

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Butte County		345.75	345.08	62.81	69.23	52.23	15.67	33.46	42.22	30.76	28.39	31.73
California		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		333.42	170.80	52.71	362.06	35.01	51.01	133.67	60.94	231.08	196.98	231.42
Sutter County		153.97	219.91	82.95	100.74	88.27	23.75	16.68	72.17	27.20	42.32	34.15
Yuba County		201.39	313.68	125.57	123.97	80.49	12.12	29.31	72.00	76.05	51.86	50.02
Tehama County		494.10	409.28	38.24	66.99	77.99	15.18	36.47	61.15	14.65	10.06	10.52
Glenn County		343.69	407.76	32.26	34.47	126.35	14.04	7.24	61.39	10.48	6.61	9.28
Colusa County		121.23	327.20	80.02	0.00	182.94	27.53	4.94	80.39	23.93	20.73	16.59
Plumas County		275.48	461.70	62.55	68.38	22.58	18.40	19.83	50.34	11.49	11.83	11.70

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Butte County		103.70	202.04	119.15	19.12	149.19	30.73	25.03	69.29	13.31	14.41	13.71
California		29.99	58.55	189.72	27.62	285.66	196.04	74.81	164.11	43.27	50.77	43.21
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Sutter County		46.18	128.75	157.37	27.82	252.15	46.55	12.48	118.44	11.77	21.48	14.76
Yuba County		60.40	183.66	238.23	34.24	229.91	23.76	21.92	118.16	32.91	26.33	21.61
Tehama County		148.19	239.63	72.55	18.50	222.79	29.75	27.28	100.35	6.34	5.11	4.55
Glenn County		103.08	238.74	61.21	9.52	360.94	27.53	5.42	100.75	4.53	3.36	4.01
Colusa County		36.36	191.57	151.81	0.00	522.59	53.97	3.69	131.92	10.35	10.52	7.17
Plumas County		82.62	270.32	118.67	18.89	64.49	36.08	14.83	82.61	4.97	6.00	5.05

Ancestry Report Part II
Description	Total Population	Canadian	British	Dutch	French	German	Italian	Polish	Scandinavian	Scotish/ Irish	Spanish	Other European

Butte County	211,095	663	13,667	1,509	2,672	14,867	5,636	1,002	5,843	14,603	1,637	6,302
California (in 000's)	39,749	60	1,082	110	219	1,118	557	173	425	1,133	161	796
National (in 000's)	343,251	1,350	18,069	1,828	3,642	24,708	9,027	4,667	5,969	20,625	1,140	9,563
Sutter County	98,892	120	3,152	215	484	3,260	1,005	172	968	2,996	293	862
Yuba County	88,329	274	3,395	305	754	4,264	1,187	452	1,001	3,680	926	1,676
Tehama County	64,202	27	4,508	308	763	3,564	972	252	1,400	4,404	394	1,040
Glenn County	28,648	62	789	207	155	1,284	452	80	351	883	117	345
Colusa County	22,020	14	356	48	82	503	161	11	130	427	91	109
Plumas County	18,933	176	1,891	157	262	2,151	881	125	708	1,505	182	832

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Butte County	11.15	0.31	6.47	0.71	1.27	7.04	2.67	0.47	2.77	6.92	0.78	2.99
California	14.27	0.15	2.72	0.28	0.55	2.81	1.40	0.43	1.07	2.85	0.40	2.00
National	7.83	0.39	5.26	0.53	1.06	7.20	2.63	1.36	1.74	6.01	0.33	2.79
Sutter County	15.69	0.12	3.19	0.22	0.49	3.30	1.02	0.17	0.98	3.03	0.30	0.87
Yuba County	14.28	0.31	3.84	0.35	0.85	4.83	1.34	0.51	1.13	4.17	1.05	1.90
Tehama County	14.22	0.04	7.02	0.48	1.19	5.55	1.51	0.39	2.18	6.86	0.61	1.62
Glenn County	23.21	0.22	2.75	0.72	0.54	4.48	1.58	0.28	1.23	3.08	0.41	1.20
Colusa County	38.91	0.06	1.62	0.22	0.37	2.28	0.73	0.05	0.59	1.94	0.41	0.50
Plumas County	11.75	0.93	9.99	0.83	1.38	11.36	4.65	0.66	3.74	7.95	0.96	4.39

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Butte County		208.32	237.84	259.12	229.64	250.42	190.48	109.31	259.08	242.67	191.68	149.02
California		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		260.90	193.38	193.04	192.49	255.95	187.63	313.10	162.76	210.78	82.11	139.07
Sutter County		80.49	117.09	78.81	88.79	117.22	72.50	40.05	91.62	106.27	73.23	43.51
Yuba County		205.75	141.20	125.16	154.87	171.65	95.87	117.84	106.07	146.15	259.13	94.71
Tehama County		27.89	257.94	173.89	215.61	197.39	108.01	90.39	204.10	240.63	151.69	80.86
Glenn County		143.55	101.17	261.91	98.16	159.37	112.56	64.31	114.68	108.12	100.95	60.11
Colusa County		42.17	59.39	79.01	67.56	81.22	52.16	11.50	55.26	68.02	102.15	24.71
Plumas County		616.59	366.91	300.58	251.06	403.97	331.98	152.04	350.02	278.84	237.61	219.35

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Butte County		79.85	122.99	134.23	119.30	97.84	101.52	34.91	159.18	115.13	233.45	107.15
California		38.33	51.71	51.80	51.95	39.07	53.30	31.94	61.44	47.44	121.79	71.90
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Sutter County		30.85	60.55	40.82	46.13	45.80	38.64	12.79	56.29	50.42	89.19	31.29
Yuba County		78.86	73.02	64.84	80.46	67.06	51.10	37.64	65.17	69.34	315.59	68.10
Tehama County		10.69	133.39	90.08	112.01	77.12	57.57	28.87	125.41	114.16	184.74	58.14
Glenn County		55.02	52.32	135.68	51.00	62.26	59.99	20.54	70.46	51.30	122.94	43.22
Colusa County		16.16	30.71	40.93	35.10	31.73	27.80	3.67	33.95	32.27	124.41	17.77
Plumas County		236.33	189.74	155.71	130.43	157.83	176.93	48.56	215.06	132.29	289.38	157.73

Ancestry Report Part III
Description	Total Population	Chinese	Filipino	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	South Central Asian	South East Asian	Other Asian	Middle Eastern	Other Ancestry	Unknown

Butte County	211,095	1,171	1,266	367	355	484	829	1,702	4,539	832	36,736	38,469
California (in 000's)	39,749	1,555	1,262	265	462	661	910	562	355	422	5,955	2,889
National (in 000's)	343,251	4,461	3,010	793	1,541	1,913	5,452	1,643	1,229	1,931	47,322	51,000
Sutter County	98,892	252	1,244	694	139	339	12,283	300	1,944	441	20,123	11,578
Yuba County	88,329	505	419	160	89	267	348	870	3,545	161	17,869	13,708
Tehama County	64,202	92	263	71	33	117	32	263	194	74	12,345	9,850
Glenn County	28,648	285	76	71	5	96	13	118	6	19	6,308	2,839
Colusa County	22,020	12	14	9	4	3	84	14	43	0	3,950	1,469
Plumas County	18,933	9	66	2	6	0	1	6	20	20	2,339	4,643

Per Cent to Total Population	Diversity Index

Butte County	11.15	0.55	0.60	0.17	0.17	0.23	0.39	0.81	2.15	0.39	17.40	18.22
California	14.27	3.91	3.18	0.67	1.16	1.66	2.29	1.41	0.89	1.06	14.98	7.27
National	7.83	1.30	0.88	0.23	0.45	0.56	1.59	0.48	0.36	0.56	13.79	14.86
Sutter County	15.69	0.25	1.26	0.70	0.14	0.34	12.42	0.30	1.97	0.45	20.35	11.71
Yuba County	14.28	0.57	0.47	0.18	0.10	0.30	0.39	0.98	4.01	0.18	20.23	15.52
Tehama County	14.22	0.14	0.41	0.11	0.05	0.18	0.05	0.41	0.30	0.12	19.23	15.34
Glenn County	23.21	0.99	0.27	0.25	0.02	0.34	0.05	0.41	0.02	0.07	22.02	9.91
Colusa County	38.91	0.05	0.06	0.04	0.02	0.01	0.38	0.06	0.20	0.00	17.94	6.67
Plumas County	11.75	0.05	0.35	0.01	0.03	0.00	0.01	0.03	0.11	0.11	12.35	24.52

Comparisons to State Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Butte County		14.18	18.89	26.09	14.46	13.79	17.15	57.01	240.59	37.16	116.17	250.77
California		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
National		33.22	27.62	34.66	38.61	33.51	69.37	33.84	40.08	53.03	92.03	204.45
Sutter County		6.51	39.62	105.30	12.08	20.61	542.47	21.45	219.95	42.05	135.83	161.11
Yuba County		14.61	14.94	27.18	8.66	18.17	17.21	69.64	449.06	17.19	135.04	213.55
Tehama County		3.66	12.90	16.59	4.42	10.96	2.18	28.96	33.81	10.87	128.35	211.12
Glenn County		25.43	8.36	37.19	1.50	20.15	1.98	29.12	2.34	6.25	146.98	136.37
Colusa County		1.39	2.00	6.13	1.56	0.82	16.66	4.50	21.85	0.00	119.74	91.80
Plumas County		1.21	10.98	1.59	2.72	0.00	0.23	2.24	11.82	9.96	82.47	337.46

Comparisons to National Norms	% to Total >= 150%		% to Total < 50%

Butte County		42.68	68.38	75.27	37.45	41.14	24.73	168.45	600.34	70.07	126.23	122.65
California		301.05	362.04	288.53	259.02	298.45	144.16	295.49	249.53	188.56	108.66	48.91
National		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00
Sutter County		19.61	143.43	303.82	31.30	61.51	782.00	63.38	548.85	79.28	147.60	78.80
Yuba County		43.99	54.09	78.42	22.44	54.24	24.81	205.79	1,120.54	32.41	146.74	104.45
Tehama County		11.03	46.71	47.88	11.45	32.70	3.14	85.59	84.37	20.49	139.47	103.26
Glenn County		76.55	30.25	107.30	3.89	60.13	2.86	86.06	5.85	11.79	159.71	66.70
Colusa County		4.19	7.25	17.69	4.05	2.44	24.02	13.28	54.52	0.00	130.12	44.90
Plumas County		3.66	39.75	4.57	7.06	0.00	0.33	6.62	29.49	18.78	89.61	165.05

Sources: STI: PopStats, Circa April 2025

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