U.S. Arab Population Up More than 75 Percent Since 1990, Census Report Shows

posted on: May 29, 2013

The Arab population in the United States has grown more than 75 percent since 1990, more than triple the rate nation’s overall growth, a Census Bureau report released Wednesday shows.

Yet Arabs represent a tiny fraction of the entire population in the United States, estimated at just 0.5 percent.

The Census Bureau’s five-year American Community Survey ending in 2010 places the U.S. Arab population at 1.5 million, up from 850,000 in 1990.

The biggest groups are:

Lebanese, estimated at 485,917
Egyptian, 179,853
Syrian, 147,426
Palestinian, 83,241
Moroccan, 74,908
Iraqi, 73,896
Jordanian, 60,056
Yemeni, 29,358
People of Arab ancestry have higher median household incomes than the overall population – $56,433 to $51,914 – with the highest incomes being Lebanese ($67,264) and Egyptian ($62,812).

Arabs also tend to be from larger households, with 2.93 people per household vs. 2.59 for the U.S. population as a whole. Yemeni households average 4.34 people, the census report shows (pdf).

Ohio’s Arab population numbers an estimated 64,799 residents, including 26,607 in the Greater Cleveland-Akron area.

Cuyahoga County is home to about a fourth of the Ohioans of Arab ancestry with an estimated 16,906.

Next are Franklin County (which includes Columbus) with 8,478, Lucas County (Toledo) 5,894, Summit County (Akron) with 4,591, and Hamilton County (Cincinnati) with 3,484.

The breakdown of ancestry was not available with the release of 2010 census information because those questions are no longer part of the once-every-10-year census. Instead, the Census Bureau provides the estimates from annual surveys, with the most accurate being multi-year surveys.

Rich Exner
The Plain Dealer