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The Largest Jewish Communities

Last updated 24 April 1999.



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Top 10 Largest National Jewish Populations

RankNationNumber
1 USA 5,602,000
2 Israel 4,390,000
3 Russia 1,450,000
4 France 640,000
5 Canada 350,000
6 United Kingdom 320,000
7 Argentina 250,000
8 Brazil 150,000
9 Australia 92,000
10 South Africa 70,000


Source: Ash, Russell. The Top 10 of Everything, DK Publishing, Inc.: New York (1997), pg. 160-161..

Most Jewish U.S. States


Top 10 U.S. States With Highest Proportion
of Jews in the Population, 1995
(including nonreligious cultural/ethnic Jews)

RankStatePercentNumber
1 New York 9.10% 1,654,000
2 New Jersey 5.50 436,000
3 Florida 4.60 641,000
4 Washington, D.C. 4.50 2,000
5 Massachusetts 4.40 268,000
6 Maryland 4.20 211,000
7 Connecticut 3.00 97,000
8 California 2.90 922,000
9 Pennsylvania 2.70 330,000
10 Illinois 2.30 268,000


Table: "Christian Church Adherents, 1990, and Jewish Population, 1995 - States"; "The Jewish population includes Jews who define themselves as Jewish by religion as well as those who define themselves as Jewish in cultural terms. Data... based primarily on a compilation of individual estimates made by local Jewish federations."

Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1997, 117th Edition. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce (Oct. 1997), pg. 70. [original source: American Jewish Year Book. New York, NY: American Jewish Committee (1995)]


Top 10 U.S. States With Highest Proportion
of Jews in the Population, 1990
(religious self-identification)

RankStatePercent
1 New York 6.90%
2 New Jersey 4.30
3 Florida 3.60
4 Massachusetts 3.50
5 Maryland 2.80
6 Connecticut 2.40
7 California 2.30
8 Washington, D.C. 2.30
9 Colorado 1.80
10 Pennsylvania 1.70

Figures represent results of the National Survey of Religious Identification, phone survey a nationwide sample of 113,000 respondents, conducted by the City University of New York. The question asks people to name their religion, and likely missed "secular Jews" who identify with the Jewish heritage but don't consider Judaism to be their religion.

Source: Kosmin, Barry A. and Seymour P. Lachman. One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society; Harmony Books: New York (1993), pg. 88-93.

Top 10 U.S. States with Largest Jewish Populations, 1993
(Religiously Affiliated Jews)

RankStatePopulation
1 New York 1,844,000
2 California 909,000
3 Florida 585,000
4 New Jersey 411,000
5 Pennsylvania 346,000
6 Massachusetts 276,000
7 Illinois 258,000
8 Maryland 210,000
9 Ohio 131,000
10 Texas 107,000


Source: Krantz, Les and Jim McCormick. The Peoplepedia: The Ultimate Reference on the American People, Henry Holt and Company: New York (1996), pg. 188.

Web page copyright (C) by Preston Hunter, www.adherents.com. Created 24 April 1999.
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