Top 10 ethnicities for the top 11 American metropolitan area (from American Community Survey) (places, populations)

[goat314]

St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL Combined Statistical Area
1. German 32.3%
2. African-American 17.6%
3. Irish 15.4%
4. English 9.3%
5. American 6.2%
6. Italian 5.2%
7. French 4.8 %
8. Scottish or Scottish-Irish 3.2%
9. Polish 2.7%
10. Dutch 1.6%

1/3 of St. Louis is German.
1/2 of St. Louis is German or African/American.
2/3 of St. Louis is German, African, or Irish.
3/4 of St. Louis is German, African American, Irish, or English.
4/5 of St. Louis is German, African American, Irish, English, or Italian.

St. Louis has a strong European and African American heritage. The City of St. Louis had some of the strongest ethnic enclaves at the turn of the 20th century.

[Lifeshadower]

Here are some more, for those that are curious:

Detroit CSA (Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA - Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2006-2008)

1. African-American: 20.2% of the population
2. German: 18.9% of the population
3. Irish: 11.4% of the population
4. Polish: 10.5% of the population
5. English: 9.0% of the population
6. Italian: 6.3% of the population
7. French: 4.7% of the population
8. American: 3.7% of the population
9. Scottish: 2.5% of the population
10. Arab: 2.5% of the population

Top 10 ancestries: 89.7% of the population
Phoenix MSA (Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ Metro Area - Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2006-2008)

1. Mexican: 27.0% of the population
2. German: 16.2% of the population
3. Irish: 10.7% of the population
4. English: 9.8% of the population
5. Italian: 5.1% of the population
6. American: 4.9% of the population
7. African American: 3.5% of the population
8. French: 2.8% of the population
9. Polish: 2.8% of the population
10. Scottish: 2.0% of the population

Top 10 ancestries: 84.8% of the population

Seattle CSA (Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA CSA - ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2006-2008)

1. German: 19.5% of the population
2. Irish: 12.6% of the population
3. English: 12.5% of the population
4. Norwegian: 6.6% of the population
5. Mexican: 5.2% of the population
6. Swedish: 4.1% of the population
7. French: 3.9% of the population
8. Italian: 3.8% of the population
9. American: 3.4% of the population
10. Scottish: 3.4% of the population

Top 10 ancestries total: 75% of the population

Denver CSA (Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO CSA - Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2006-2008)

1. German: 22.9% of the population
2. Mexican: 16.9% of the population
3. Irish: 12.8% of the population
4. English: 11.7% of the population
5. Italian: 5.2% of the population
6. American: 4.3% of the population
7. African American: 3.5% of the population
8. French: 3.4% of the population
9. Scottish: 2.9% of the population
10. Swedish: 2.9% of the population

Top 10 ancestries: 86.5% of the population

[Lifeshadower]

Thought it would be cool to add in metropolitan areas from around the world for a comparison to the United States (in addition to wanting a bit of rest from last night )

I'm only using the single reported ancestries. Origins by regions aren't being counted. All census data is self-reporting, with an allowance for multiple responses. Remember, governments take statistics in VERY different ways.

Toronto, Ontario CMA [Census Metropolitan Area = US MSA. CSA's don't yet exist but will for 2011 census, where Toronto will be part of the Golden Horseshoe](Population by selected ethnic origins, by census metropolitan areas (2006 Census))

1. English: 15.9% of the population
2. Canadian: 12.8% of the population
3. Scottish: 11.0% of the population
4. Chinese: 10.6% of the population
5. Irish: 10.5% of the population
6. East Indian/Asian Indian: 9.6% of the population
7. Italian: 9.2% of the population
8. German: 5.1% of the population
9. French: 4.8% of the population
10. Polish: 4.1% of the population


Montreal, Quebec CMA (Population by selected ethnic origins, by census metropolitan areas (2006 Census))

1. Canadian: 46.6% of the population
2. French: 26.1% of the population
3. Italian: 7.2% of the population
4. Irish: 6.0% of the population
5. Arab: 5.0% of the population
6. English: 4.1% of the population
7. Scottish: 3.3% of the population
8. Haitian: 2.4% of the population
9. Aboriginal: 2.3% of the population
10. Chinese: 2.3% of the population

Vancouver, British Columbia CMA (Population by selected ethnic origins, by census metropolitan areas (2006 Census))

1. English: 23.1% of the population
2. Chinese: 19.1% of the population
3. Scottish: 16.0% of the population
4. Canadian: 13.3% of the population
5. Irish: 12.0% of the population
6. German: 9.7% of the population
7. East Indian: 8.7% of the population
8. French: 6.5% of the population
9. Filipino: 4.0% of the population
10. Ukrainian: 3.9% of the population

Sydney, Australia (2006 Census Community Profile Series : Sydney (Statistical Division))

1. Australian: 29.4% of the population
2. English: 24.6% of the population
3. Irish: 7.8% of the population
4. Chinese: 7.0% of the population
5. Scottish: 5.8% of the population
6. Italian: 4.2% of the population
7. Lebanese: 3.1% of the population
8. Greek: 2.6% of the population
9. German: 2.4% of the population
10. Indian: 2.2% of the population

Melbourne, Australia (2006 Census Table : Melbourne (Statistical Division))

1. Australian: 29.9% of the population
2. English: 25.5% of the population
3. Irish: 8.3% of the population
4. Italian: 7.3% of the population
5. Scottish: 6.6% of the population
6. Chinese: 5.1% of the population
7. Greek: 4.2% of the population
8. German: 3.0% of the population
9. Indian: 1.8% of the population
10. Vietnamese: 1.7% of the population

London, UK (Check Browser Settings) Couldn't find anything more detailed than this, but I think it gets the point across.

1. British: 57.7% of the population
2. Other Whites: 8.9% of the population
3. Indian: 6.6% of the population
4. Black African: 5.5% of the population
6. Black Caribbean: 4.3% of the population
7. Chinese: 3.5% of the population
8. Irish: 2.4% of the population
9. Pakistani: 2.4% of the population
10. Bangladeshi: 2.3% of the population

[iandian88]

Originally Posted by Lifeshadower

Not what I'm saying at all (since the commuters have to go SOMEWHERE!) but all it is really is # of commuters per county.

Anyways, I thought this topic would have more responses than it does right now.

For reference, here's what the US looks like at the national level:

If anyone's curious at what it looks like at the national level:

United States: United States - Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2006-2008

1. German: 16.8% of the population
2. Irish: 12.0% of the population
3. African-American: 10.6% of the population
4. Mexican: 9.7% of the population
5. English: 9.3% of the population
6. American: 6.4% of the population
7. Italian: 5.9% of the population
8. Polish: 3.3% of the population
9. French: 3.2% of the population
10. Scottish: 2.0% of the population

Top 10 ancestries nationally: 79.2% of the population

I wonder if the numbers of "English" would go up if there was no "American" category (since the most "Americans" on the census are in the South, where its most Anglo and Scotch-Irish). In any case, its pretty clear that the US as a whole is still pretty dominated by those from the British Isles (Irish+English+"American"+Scottish=29.7% of the population), with Western Europeans being the next prolific (German + French + Italian = 25.9% of the population), Italy being both in Southern and Western Europe simultaneously.

Like before, 8 of the groups would be considered White, 1 would be Black, and 1 would be Hispanic. 5 out of 10 metropolitan areas are like this as well (DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Philly, and DFW).

Even more telling from this statistic is that out of the top 11 most populated metropolitan regions, 4 are above the national average for the top 10 most prolific ancestries (DFW at 79.8%, Philadelphia at 96.5%, Chicago at 90.7%, and Boston at 88.2%) Shows that cities and metro regions aren't ALWAYS the most ethnically diverse places, but could be shown by other factors.



Then you can join the 6.4% of people who said the same thing in the US Census I wonder what it takes for someone to mark down they are "American" on the US census, instead of being a box checker like most people

The US is not at all dominated by people from the British Isles. I think it's kind of funny the emphasis that so many posters across the internet, on Reddit, or on City-Data, place on that when there's a map that displays America's massive diversity - it's mostly British people or American Anglophiles looking to attribute America's culture to Britain - so pathetic, lol.

Most Americans are heavily mixed. A black person is more likely than a white person to have an English surname in America. So you really couldn't say America is "dominated" by people with British Isles ancestry - that's New Zealand, or Australia, or Canada - if anything, it's dominated by people with German ancestry.

[btownboss4]

How is Boston even possible? MA is 9% Black and RI is 8% Black. How can the CSA be under 2.9% African American?

Even if 1/2 the Black Population isn’t African American, factoring in NH (which is still 1.7% black more like 2% in SNH) that’s still over 4%. And I would think if AA are really like 25% of the black population Hatian or Dominican would show up.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

How is Boston even possible? MA is 9% Black and RI is 8% Black. How can the CSA be under 2.9% African American?

Even if 1/2 the Black Population isn’t African American, factoring in NH (which is still 1.7% black more like 2% in SNH) that’s still over 4%. And I would think if AA are really like 25% of the black population Hatian or Dominican would show up.

The numbers are from 2010.

[masssachoicetts]

Are Puerto Ricans not included? Boston CSA is 4.6% Puerto Rican. (In 2010)

Now it's probably closer to 5-6%

[908Boi]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

How is Boston even possible? MA is 9% Black and RI is 8% Black. How can the CSA be under 2.9% African American?

Even if 1/2 the Black Population isn’t African American, factoring in NH (which is still 1.7% black more like 2% in SNH) that’s still over 4%. And I would think if AA are really like 25% of the black population Hatian or Dominican would show up.

Keep in mind this data is dated and its not clear "African American" may or may not included people of mixed/Caribbean/African/other descent. People born in the States but of immigrant parentage may or may not identify as African American and some African Americans may not identify with that term either.

[908Boi]

Originally Posted by iandian88

The US is not at all dominated by people from the British Isles. I think it's kind of funny the emphasis that so many posters across the internet, on Reddit, or on City-Data, place on that when there's a map that displays America's massive diversity - it's mostly British people or American Anglophiles looking to attribute America's culture to Britain - so pathetic, lol.

Most Americans are heavily mixed. A black person is more likely than a white person to have an English surname in America. So you really couldn't say America is "dominated" by people with British Isles ancestry - that's New Zealand, or Australia, or Canada - if anything, it's dominated by people with German ancestry.

While German American is the biggest ancestry group, if you add up "American" (people who identify as this are mostly of British descent), "English" "Scottish" "Irish" "Scotch-Irish" "Welsh" + African American (nearly all have some British/Irish admixture) + mixed race people, I don't think its totally inaccurate to say the majority of Americans have British ancestry.

[Gaylord_Focker]

So only SF and LA had Asians in the top ten.