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What is the percentage and number of American Jews by state and major metro area?
Executive summary
Estimates vary, but major public compilations place roughly 7.5–7.7 million Jews in the United States and show heavy geographic concentration: New York state (roughly 1.67–1.77 million) and California (about 1.19–1.23 million) are the largest state totals, while New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia are repeatedly named among the largest metropolitan Jewish populations (New York City ~1.7–1.9 million) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources stress that differences in definitions and methods (who counts as Jewish) account for much of the variation in numbers by state and metro area [4] [5].
1. Why published totals differ — competing definitions and methods
Demographers and institutions use multiple definitions — “core” Jewish, Jewish by parentage, enlarged definitions that include people raised in Jewish households — and combine surveys, local studies and registry data; that produces regular discrepancies of a million or more in U.S. totals and in state/metro breakdowns [4] [5]. The American Jewish Year Book (Sheskin & Dashefsky) and Brandeis’s syntheses are common sources; other compilations (World Data, DataPandas, WorldPopulationReview) repackage those estimates but sometimes apply different base years or inclusion rules, which explains divergent state counts such as New York at 1.67M vs. 1.77M [5] [1] [2].
2. State-level picture: concentration in a handful of states
Multiple lists show the U.S. Jewish population concentrated in a few states: New York and California lead by far, followed by Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas and Ohio in most top-ten lists (examples: New York ~1.67–1.77M; California ~1.19–1.23M; Florida ~657k) [1] [2] [6]. Exact percentages of a state’s population vary by source and year; WorldPopulationReview reports New York as high as ~9.1% Jewish in one compilation while Washington, D.C. appears among the highest-percentage places [2].
3. Metro areas: big-city cores and suburban spread
Metro-area tallies put New York City at the top (commonly reported between ~1.7M and 1.9M), with Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Philadelphia following among the largest MSAs [3] [7]. Brandeis’s American Jewish Population Project and the AJYB chapter provide the standard metro-area breakdowns used by other outlets; they combine community studies and national surveys to estimate Jewish populations in MSAs and CSAs [5] [7].
4. What the maps and atlases add — finer geographic nuance
Detailed atlases and interactive maps (Brandeis’s AJPP; projects by SSRI/Cohen Center) show that beyond state totals, Jewish populations cluster by county and neighborhood; these resources offer low/mid/high ranges and local demographic profiles but often require registration for full access [8] [9]. The University of Miami and AJYB work also produce county- and metro-level atlases used for policy and community planning [10] [5].
5. Numbers to watch — recent headline figures and ranges
Public-facing compilations cite U.S. totals from about 5.8 million adult Jews plus children raised Jewish (a 7.5M “enlarged” figure cited by Pew/others) to mid-range estimates of 7.5–7.7M; some outlets cite up to 7.7M–7.9M depending on inclusion rules [11] [12] [1]. International compilations and Wikipedia note similar debates and place the U.S. among the largest Jewish populations globally, alongside Israel [12] [13].
6. Limitations, uncertainties and what reporting does not say
Available sources repeatedly note methodological limits: differing definitions, survey frames, time lags, and local study quality; those caveats mean state and metro counts are estimates, not census-like counts [5] [4]. Specific up-to-date percent-of-population figures for every state and every metro area in a single, authoritative table are not provided in the set of sources you supplied — for full, downloadable state-by-state tables Brandeis’s AJPP and the AJYB chapter are the recommended primary resources, though AJPP may require login for detailed downloads [9] [5].
7. Practical guidance if you need a precise table
Use the American Jewish Year Book chapter by Sheskin & Dashefsky for the most-methodologically transparent metro/state breakdowns and consult Brandeis’s American Jewish Population Project for interactive maps and local-area estimates; be prepared to choose and document a definition of “Jewish” (core vs. enlarged) because that choice will change totals materially [5] [9] [4].
If you want, I can extract a state-by-state list and metro rankings from one chosen source (for example, the AJYB mid-range estimates or WorldPopulationReview) and present the counts and implied percentages versus state populations — tell me which source and definition you prefer [5] [2].