New U.S. Census Data Reveals Detailed Ancestry Among ‘White’ Americans

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Census Bureau reports that for the first time ever, respondents to the 2020 Census who reported “White” as a race could write in more details such as Italian, Palestinian, or Cajun.

Together, the English American (46.6 million), German American (45 million), and Irish American (38.6 million) alone or in any combination populations made up over half of the White alone or in combination population in 2020. This new write-in area for collecting detailed White responses was an improvement made to the 2020 Census race question design. As a result, data are now available for 104 detailed White groups, including Lithuanian, Irish, Libyan, Syrian, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Australian.

Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) responses, such as Lebanese and Moroccan, were included with the White category, following the standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in 1997, which classify MENA responses as part of the White racial category.

Detailed responses from the race question are tabulated in two ways: race alone and race alone or in any combination. The alone population includes those who reported only one response to the race question, such as Austrian. The alone or in any combination population includes those who reported one or more responses to the race question, such as only Austrian or Austrian and German or Austrian and Asian.

In the 2020 Census, over 235 million people reported they were White alone or in combination with another race group, such as Black or African American. As the nation becomes more multiracial, understanding the composition of the race alone and race alone or in any combination populations is increasingly important.

Most U.S. White respondents reported a detailed European response.

About two-thirds of the White alone and White alone or in combination populations reported a detailed response, such as German, Irish, Lebanese, or French Canadian. Detailed European responses accounted for 58.8% of the White alone and 56.1% of the White alone or in combination populations. Other White responses, such as Canadian and Pennsylvania German, represented around 2% of the White alone and White alone or in combination populations. Middle Eastern and North African responses, such as Lebanese, Iranian, and Egyptian, represented over 1% of the White alone and White alone or in combination populations.

Among those who identified as White alone or in combination, English (46.6 million), German (45 million), and Irish (38.6 million) were the largest groups. Several other alone or in any combination groups had at least 8 million people:

Italian (16.8 million), Polish (8.6 million), Scottish (8.4 million), and French (8.0 million). An additional 11 detailed White alone or in any combination groups had at least 1 million people, including Swedish (3.8 million), Norwegian (3.8 million), and Dutch (3.6 million).

French Canadian and Canadian were the two largest detailed groups in the “Other White” population, with their alone or in any combination populations each exceeding half a million. The next largest groups were Pennsylvania German, Cajun, and Australian.

Among White respondents who reported a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) response:

• The largest MENA alone groups were Iranian (413,842), Lebanese (328,137), and Egyptian (313,720).
• These same groups also accounted for the largest MENA alone or in any combination groups: Lebanese (685,672), Iranian (568,564), and Egyptian (396,854).

The English-alone population was the largest detailed White group nationally, in 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The German-alone population was the largest in 10 states, the Italian-alone population in four, and the Irish-alone population only in Massachusetts.

Texas had the largest English-alone population (over 2.1 million).

The largest German-alone population was in Pennsylvania — 1,112,662, or 11.4% of the state’s White alone population. California had the largest Irish-alone population (803,899), followed by New York (730,165) and Florida (692,142). The Italian-alone population was concentrated in New York and New Jersey. Together, the two states accounted for over a quarter (1,712,976) of those who reported Italian-alone. New York was home to 1.1 million.

Illinois had the largest number of people who identified as Polish-alone (352,882), followed by New York (274,580), Michigan (256,398), Pennsylvania (206,264), and Florida (160,119). Louisiana had the largest French-alone population (136,390), or 5.1% of its total White alone population, followed closely by California (127,756), Massachusetts (111,502), Florida (107,687), and Texas (105,770).

County-level findings showed that the English-alone or in any combination was the largest detailed White group in approximately two-thirds (2,050) of the counties in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The English population was the most prevalent group in northern New England, the South, and throughout the West, as well as in Puerto Rico.

German was the largest group in over 1,000 counties, particularly in the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and parts of Texas, Phoenix had the largest English and German populations of all counties in the nation (620,199 and 639,586 respectively).

Norwegian was the most common group in 15 counties, all in northern Minnesota, North Dakota, or Montana. The county with the largest Norwegian population (135,077) was Hennepin, Minnesota, which includes Minneapolis.

Ukrainian was the largest group in West Alaska, and Dutch was the largest group in Sioux County, Iowa, and Ottawa County, Michigan.

French was the largest in two Louisiana Parishes while Bristol, Massachusetts, was the only county with Portuguese as the largest detailed White group.

Finnish was the largest group in four counties, all in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Majority of ‘White’ Americans Identify as English, German, or Irish (Nov. 5, 2023)

#USCensus #AmericanDiversity #Ancestry #WhiteAmericans #Census2020 #EthnicHeritage #USDemographics

Tags: U.S. Census, 2020 Census, Race and Ethnicity, Demographics, White Americans, Ancestry, European Heritage, MENA Responses, U.S. Office of Management and Budget, American Diversity