Jewish population by state

Guess how many Jews live in Montana? Guess how many in Wyoming? You can find the surprising answers at “Jewish Population of the United States by State,” a chart posted at the Jewish Virtual Library.

Or you can continue reading here.

Answer: Montana has 850 Jews, or 0.1 percent of a population of 935,670. Wyoming has 430 Jews, or 0.1 percent of a population of 509,294.

Since Jews are 2.2 percent of the U.S. population, that means that Jews are more than 20 times more rare in the population of those two states than in the country as a whole.

But there’s something that may be even more surprising. Guess how many Jews live in Florida—Florida, famous as the second home and retirement home for New York’s Jews? 653,435, or 3.7 percent of a state population of 17,789,864. So a state with an almost stereotypical Jewish presence has a Jewish percentage of only 3.7 percent.

New York has by far the largest Jewish percentage of any state: 8.4 percent, or 1,618,320 out of a population of 19,254,630.

Ruth King of Americans For a Save Israel circulated the population table to her e-mail list, with this cover note:

FOLKS: ONCE SENATOR BAUCUS OF MONTANA WAS ASKED HOW HIS MAIL RAN WITH RESPECT TO ISRAEL. HIS ANSWER: ALL HIS CORRESPONDENTS ARE FIRM SUPPORTERS OF ISRAEL. WHEN EVERYONE GASPED, HE RESPONDED: ALL FOUR LETTERS FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF AMERICANS FOR A SAFE ISRAEL IN MONTANA…..GO AFSI GO…GIDEON’S ARMY IN THE WEST…..RSK

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 16, 2007 08:12 PM | Send