Census Bureau 2020 Data Reveals 38.6 million Americans claimed Irish ancestry, including 1,521,205, or 28.2% of Massachusetts Residents

Photo Courtesy of US Census Bureau

This week the U.S. Census Bureau released detailed information about the 2020 US census, revealing that 38,597,428 Americans identified themselves as having full or partial Irish ancestry.  Read the press release here.

Previously, the Census Bureau released 2020 Census data on the Hispanic or Latino population and major race groups such as White, Black or African American, Asian. But this new information delves deeper into ethnic and national affiliations, including counts and statistics for 300 detailed race and ethnic groups, as well as 1,187 detailed American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribes and villages. These data come from the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A (Detailed DHC-A)

The addition of a new write-in area for collecting detailed White responses was one of the improvements made to the 2020 Census race question design. As a result, data are now available from the decennial census for 104 detailed White groups, including Lithuanian, Irish, Libyan, Syrian, Pennsylvania Dutch and Australian.

Nationwide, Irish is the third-largest group in the 'White alone or in any other combination' category in the United States, with nearly 39 million Americans with Irish ancestry.  The Irish category is behind  English (46.5 million) and German (44.9 million).  

Of the nearly 39 million Americans claiming Irish ancestry, 3.3 million are in California, 2.5 million are in New York and 2.2 are in Pennsylvania.  

In Massachusetts, 1,521, 205 million residents claim either full or partial Irish ancestry, or 28.2 % of the Commonwealth's population, according to the 2022 American Community Survey. 





“These 2020 Census data illuminate the rich diversity across our nation,” said Rachel Marks, chief of the Census Bureau’s Racial Statistics Branch. “We have this comprehensive picture thanks to the millions of people who responded to the census and provided their detailed racial, ethnic or tribal identity, and thanks to the stakeholders, researchers and tribal leaders who helped us improve how we collect these detailed data.”




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