What were the estimated Muslim population counts for New York City and Detroit metros in 2025?
Executive summary
Estimates for Muslim populations differ by source and definition: several reputable compilations place the greater New York metropolitan Muslim population around 1.5 million (commonly cited figure) while city-only estimates range from roughly 400,000–769,000; Metro Detroit estimates cluster around 200,000–250,000 or roughly 241,000 for Michigan as a whole, with Dearborn/Hamtramck concentrated pockets (New York metro: 1.5 million; New York City alone: estimates 400k–769k; Metro Detroit: ~200k–250k / Michigan: 241,000) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. Conflicting headline numbers: “1.5 million in New York metro” vs. smaller city counts
Many widely cited profiles and encyclopedic entries state that the greater New York metropolitan area contains about 1.5 million Muslims and that New York hosts the largest metropolitan Muslim population in the Americas (this 1.5 million figure appears in multiple New York-focused entries) [1] [6]. At the same time, city‑level estimates vary dramatically: an NYC mayoral office report from 2018 is cited for about 769,000 Muslims in New York City proper, while community studies and mosque‑attendance extrapolations give lower ranges — for example, a Journey Data Center analysis estimated between roughly 400,000 and 800,000 metro‑area Muslims and a 2014 extrapolation suggested about 564,000 in the city [3] [2].
2. Why estimates diverge: definitions, geography and methods
Discrepancies trace to three choices researchers make: which geography to count (city vs. greater metropolitan area vs. state), how to define “Muslim” (self‑identification, mosque attendance, ancestry or country of origin), and the data source (surveys, community studies, mosque counts, or compilations). Sources that treat the entire New York metro region produce the 1.5 million figure; those relying on mosque attendance or older survey slices produce the lower 400k–800k city estimates [1] [2].
3. Metro Detroit: concentrated communities and a narrower numeric band
Reporting on Metro Detroit consistently emphasizes concentrated Muslim and Arab American communities — especially Dearborn and Hamtramck — and gives Metro Detroit a much smaller total than New York. Several sources place Detroit‑area Muslims between about 200,000 and 250,000; state‑level compilations cite roughly 241,000 Muslims in Michigan overall, which aligns with the mid‑range metro estimates [4] [5]. Local coverage stresses that these populations are highly localized and visible in specific suburbs [7].
4. Context and political implications in each metro
New York’s large and dispersed Muslim population is presented as the country’s most ethnically diverse Muslim community and a significant political constituency; reporting links demographic counts to political organizing and city governance debates [1] [8]. In Metro Detroit, the concentration of Arab‑Muslim institutions and businesses — plus the presence of cities like Dearborn and Hamtramck with dense Muslim majorities or plurality neighborhoods — gives the community outsized civic visibility relative to its absolute size [7] [9].
5. Reliability and recent data gaps: what sources do — and don’t — show
Recent, standardized census‑style counts of religion are lacking; sources rely on specialized surveys, community studies, mosque attendance, and organizational reports, leading to unavoidable uncertainty. For New York, the 1.5 million metro figure is repeated in encyclopedia and summary pieces but underlying methodologies differ across sources [1] [6]. For Detroit, multiple contemporary summaries and regional reporting point to roughly 200k–250k in the metro and roughly 241k statewide, but a single definitive survey number is not present in the cited materials [4] [5].
6. How to read these numbers: conservative ranges to use in analysis
Given divergent methods, the defensible reporting range is: New York metro ≈ 1.5 million Muslims (widely cited), New York City proper ≈ 400,000–769,000 depending on source and method, and Metro Detroit ≈ 200,000–250,000 (with Michigan statewide often cited near 241,000) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Readers should treat any single point estimate as provisional and linked to the producing source’s choices about geography and measurement.
Limitations: available sources do not provide a single, methodologically uniform 2025 census of religious affiliation for these metros; instead, the landscape is a patchwork of studies and institutional estimates that produce overlapping but not identical totals [10] [11].