The movement of Jews from the Northeast of the United States to the Sun Belt — the Southern and Western part of the country — continued during 1981 but may have lost some of its momentum, judging from figures appearing in the just-published 1982 American Jewish Year Book.
The Northeast and North central states accounted for 68.5 percent of the total 5,921,000 Jewish population, as compared with 68.9 percent the year before. Of the 21 states in these regions, only five showed population increases over 1980.
The South and West comprised 31.5 percent of the total, compared with 31.1 the year before. Eleven of the 30 states (including the District of Columbia) in these regions reported population increases.
The demographic report, compiled for the Year Book by Alvin Cherkin and Maynard Miran, of the Council of Jewish Federation and Welfare Funds indicates that the Greater New York Metropolitan area contains more than one-third the total Jewish population of the United States.
Since the U.S. Census Bureau does not identify Jews as an ethnic group and therefore does not collect data on Jewish populations, the report points out that its figures are provided primarily through an annual survey of Jewish federations. Formal population studies are conducted in some communities, while others estimate roughly on the basis of lists of known Jewish households.
JEWISH POPULATION AROUND THE WORLD
Among the Jewish population figures for U.S. cities listed in the Year Book’s tables are: New York City Metropolitan Area, 1,998,000; Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, 503,000; Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, 295,000; Chicago Metropolitan Area, 253,000; Miami, 225,000; Boston, 170,000; Greater Washington, 160,000; Bergen County (N. J.), 100,000; Essex County (N.J.), 95,000; Baltimore, 92,000; Fort Lauderdale, 75,000; Cleveland, 75,000; Detroit, 75,000; San Francisco, 75,000; Montgomery County (MD.), 70,000; St. Louis, 60,000; Hollywood (Fla.), 55,000; Pittsburgh, 50,000.
Turning to the world scene, a Year Book report by Professors U.O. Schmelz and Sergio Delia Pergola, of the Hebrew University, cites a total Jewish population figure of 13,027,900 in 1980. After the United States, countries with significantly large numbers of Jews are: Israel, 3,282,000; Soviet Union, 1,700,000; France, 535,000; Great Britain, 390,000; Canada, 380,000; Argentina, 242,000; Brazil, 110,000, and South Africa, 108,000.
The American Jewish Year Book is published by the American Jewish Committee in association with the Jewish Publication Society of America. The editors are Milton Himmelfarb and David Singer.
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