Which US metropolitan areas have the highest Muslim population by share and by total number?
Executive summary
New York metropolitan area is the largest U.S. metro Muslim population by total size—sources put roughly 1.5 million Muslims in the New York metro and New York State at ~724,475 people (largest state total) [1] [2] [3]. Other large metro concentrations cited repeatedly include the Chicago area/Illinois, the Detroit/Metro Detroit area (Dearborn/Hamtramck), Los Angeles, and metros in New Jersey, California, and Texas [2] [1] [4].
1. Why New York tops the list: numbers and metropolitan scope
Multiple sources identify the New York metropolitan region as the single largest Muslim population center in the Western Hemisphere; Wikipedia cites a New York metro Muslim population of about 1.5 million and other aggregators show New York State leading U.S. state totals with roughly 724,475 Muslims, the bulk concentrated in New York City and its surrounding suburbs [1] [3]. These figures come from demographic syntheses rather than a single federal religious census—the U.S. Census does not ask religion—so the counts are compiled from surveys, local estimates and secondary aggregations [2] [3].
2. Metro areas with largest totals after New York
Reporting and compiled rankings consistently list Chicago/Illinois, Metro Detroit (including Dearborn), Los Angeles, and large metros in New Jersey, California and Texas among the next-largest Muslim populations [2] [4] [1]. WorldPopulationReview, Datapandas and Justice For All analyses place Illinois and California high on state totals, with New Jersey and Texas also among the top five, reflecting large urban immigrant hubs and long-established communities [2] [5] [6].
3. Highest Muslim share (percentage) vs. raw totals — different stories
Sources note a distinction: some smaller cities or suburbs can have very high Muslim shares even if their absolute numbers are modest. For example, Dearborn, Michigan, appears repeatedly as a high-share city (historically cited with roughly 29,000 Muslims in 2000), while Paterson, NJ, has local estimates in the tens of thousands—both are part of larger metro agglomerations that boost state and metro totals [1] [4]. State-level percentage leaders are not uniformly reported across sources, but Illinois is identified as having among the highest percent concentrations in some summaries even as New York leads in absolute numbers [2] [7].
4. Data limitations and competing estimates
All sources acknowledge major measurement limits: the federal census omits religion, surveys disagree (Pew, AJCommittee-funded surveys, the 2020 Religion Census give different national totals), and third-party aggregators use differing methodologies and update cycles—estimates of U.S. Muslim totals range from under 3 million in some survey-based accounts up to 4.5 million in the 2020 Religion Census [6] [2] [3]. WorldPopulationReview, Datapandas and other aggregators combine multiple inputs and sometimes project forward; those choices change metro/state rankings [2] [5].
5. Local evidence that shapes metro rankings: institutions and businesses
Local institution counts—mosques, Islamic schools, community organizations and Muslim-owned businesses—are used by advocates and researchers to validate metro estimates. Justice For All and related profiles highlight New York City’s high number of Muslim-owned businesses (cited as 96,000 in some profiles) and extensive institutional presence, which supports the claim of a very large metro Muslim population [8] [6]. Such institutional markers strengthen confidence in metro-level prominence even when absolute headcounts vary.
6. Alternative viewpoints and why they matter
Some organizations and news outlets stress smaller national totals and caution that headline metro numbers can overstate concentration if based on extrapolation from parish-level or survey data [6] [2]. Conversely, community groups and regional studies often report higher local counts based on mosque rolls, school enrollment and business registers [8] [4]. Both perspectives are supported in the sources: survey-based national skeptics (lower totals) and institution-based local talliers (higher metro counts) coexist in the reporting [6] [8].
7. Practical takeaway for readers and researchers
If you want the single clearest claim supported across sources: the New York metropolitan area is the largest U.S. Muslim metro by total population (about 1.5 million cited) and New York State is the largest state total (~724,475) [1] [3] [2]. For lists of other large metros, consult Chicago/Illinois, Metro Detroit (Dearborn/Hamtramck), Los Angeles, New Jersey and Texas metros—recognize that rankings change depending on methodology and that available sources do not provide a single, definitive federal count [2] [4] [5].