The Berman Jewish DataBank report on United States Jewish Population, 2021, written by Dr. Ira M. Sheskin and Dr. Arnold Dashefsky, is based on Chapter 6 of the American Jewish Year Book, 2021 (edited by Dashefsky and Sheskin). 

Jewish Population Estimate

Based on a summation of local Jewish community estimates (which are detailed in the Appendix), the estimated size of the American Jewish community in 2020 is approximately 7.3 million Jewish persons based on the AJYB analysis.

This estimate is based on a statistical aggregation of local estimates of more than 900 American Jewish communities, which is the basis for most of the tables in the report.  The 7.3 million U.S. Jewish population estimate is presented as similar to the Pew Research Center 2020 survey of Jewish Americans - especially since the Pew study includes children raised as both Jewish and in another religion, while the AJYB estimate may not include these children of multiple religions.

Section I: Population Estimation Methodology discusses the multiple sources of Jewish population estimates used in the article, including scientific estimates, census estimates, informant estimates and Internet estimates.  It compares the AJYB estimate for the United States to the estimate by Sergio DellaPergola in World Jewish Population (also available at the Berman Jewish DataBank) of 6 million core Jewish persons.

Figure 1 presents a quick overview of U.S. Jewish population estimates from 1780 to 2021.

Organization of data presentation:

♦ Table 1  Regional estimates of the number of Jewish persons, which show (for example) that 45.4% of American Jews live in the Northeastern Census Region compared to 17.4% of the total US population.

♦ Table 2 provides a state-by-state estimate of the number of Jewish persons, the percentage of each state's population which is Jewish, and the percentage each state contributes to the total U.S. Jewish population.

♦ Table 3 shows the Jewish population of the largest 21 MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas), while Table 4 lists the top 21 largest CSAs (Combined Statistical Areas).

♦ Table 5 lists Jewish population estimates for Jewish Federation service areas where the Jewish population is at least 20,000.

♦ In Table 6, Jewish population change 1980-2020 is analyzed by Census Region.  Thus, while 45.4% of Jews live in the Northeast in 2021, the comparable percentage in 1980 was 57.3%.

♦ Table 7 shows US Jewish population estimates by state for 1980 and 2021, indicating numerical and percentage changes over the time period.

♦ Tables 8-10 focus on single parent Jewish households, children in those households and demographic-economic differences between single parent households with only the single parent and those with another adult in the household.

Maps

♦ The report includes 18 maps of the Jewish population in the United States (maps are integrated into the text in the complete PDF but are also available as a separate PDF under "Other")

Map 1 visually summarizes the US census regions in 2021.

Maps 2-4 are historical "dot" maps intended to show the changing distribution of U.S. Jewish persons from 1880 to 2021.

Maps 5-18 focus on state and regional Jewish population distributions.

Appendix A: Jewish Population by Community

♦ Appendix A -  the listing of the number of Jewish persons in all US local communities with at least 100 Jewish residents - is integrated into the U.S. Jewish population report in 2020.

The Appendix PDF (begins on page 79 of the PDF) provides the number of Jewish persons in communities of at least 100 or more Jews, organized by state and then by communities within each state.

♦ The companion Excel file for Appendix A is also available as a separate download on this DataBank study page.  This excel document documents sources of data estimates, etc.

***

Recommended citation:

Ira M. Sheskin and Arnold Dashefsky. “United States Jewish Population, 2021,” in Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin. (Editors) The American Jewish Year Book, 2021, Volume 121 (2021) (Cham, SUI: Springer) pp. 207-297.

7.3 million Jewish persons (see Key Findings above).

"Jewish Population in the United States, 2021" has been published by the Berman Jewish DataBank at The Jewish Federations of North America with the assistance of Dr. Sheskin.  It derives from Chapter 5 of the American Jewish Year Book, 2020.

The Year Book had been published by the American Jewish Committee in 108 volumes from 1899 to 2008, until succeeded by the new Year Book, edited by Dashefsky and Sheskin, published by Springer.

The Table of Contents of the 2021 Year Book is reproduced in the first few pages of the US article, listing many additional analyses of Jewish life which may be of interest to DataBank users.

Please note that the publication of the 2021 Year Book was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as it complicated the publisher's (Springer) editing and production systems in India.  Actual release of the Year Book did not occur until mid-summer 2022.

***

Obtaining The American Jewish Year Book, 2021

Hard bound and Kindle copies are available at www.amazon.com.

Persons with access to university libraries that offer Springer’s eBook Collection can obtain a soft cover copy or an electronic copy.

*****

Citations to this article.

Springer is permitting us to post this Report on line with open access, but requests that the citation be to the American Jewish Year Book itself:

Ira M. Sheskin and Arnold Dashefsky. “United States Jewish Population, 2021,” in Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin. (Editors) The American Jewish Year Book, 2021, Volume 121 (2021) (Cham, SUI: Springer) pp. 207-297.

Sponsors and Support:

The American Jewish Year Book was organized and co-edited by Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin.

AJYB 2021 was produced with the generous support of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut (Dean Julie Wade), the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life at the University of Connecticut (Avinoam Patt, Director), the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at the University of Miami (Haim Shaked, Director), its Demography Project (Ira M. Sheskin, Director) and The George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies (Haim Shaked, Director), the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Miami (Dean Leonidas Bachus and Senior Associate Dean Kenneth Voss), the Fain Family Endowed Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Miami (Professor William Scott Green, former Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education) and Mandell "Bill" Berman (z"l) and the Mandell and Madeleine Berman Foundation.

The co-editors of the 2021 American Jewish Year Book also acknowledged the cooperation of the Berman Jewish DataBank, a project of The Jewish Federations of North America [Mandell Berman (z”l), Founding Chair; David Manchester, Director] and The Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (Judit Bokser Liwerant, President).