U.S. Census Bureau Facts
Irish-American Heritage Month 2017
32.7 million or 10.2% – The number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2015. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.6 million). Irish was the nation’s second-most frequently reported European ancestry, trailing German.
Sources: 2015 American Community Survey, Table B04006 and 2015 Population and Migration Estimates (Ireland Central Statistics Office) http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/B04006
36.2% – The percentage of people of Irish ancestry, age 25 or older, who had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2015. In addition, 94.1 percent of Irish-Americans in this age group had at least a high school diploma. For the nation as a whole, the corresponding rates were 30.6 percent and 87.1 percent, respectively.
Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201
$64,322 – The median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the median household income of $55,775 for all households in 2015. In addition, 6.5 percent of family households headed by a householder of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 10.6 percent for all Americans.
Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201
43.1% – The percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans age 16 or older who worked in management, business, science and arts occupations in 2015. Additionally, 24.5 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15.1 percent in service occupations; 9.4 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 7.8 percent in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations.
Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
68.4% – The percentage of householders of Irish ancestry who owned the home in which they lived, with the remainder renting in 2015. For the nation as a whole, the homeownership rate was 63.0 percent.
Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201
241,481 – The number of foreign-born U.S. residents with Irish ancestry in 2015. Of these, 143,972 had become naturalized citizens.
Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201 http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
40.5 – The median age of those who claimed Irish ancestry, which was higher than U.S. residents as a whole at 37.8 years in 2015.
Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table S0201
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201//popgroup~541
http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/S0201
20,590 – The estimated number of U.S. residents who spoke Irish Gaelic. All except about 2,500 of them also spoke English “very well.”
Source: Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013
www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html
120,144 – The number of foreign-born people in 2015 who reported Ireland as their birthplace. Source: 2015 American Community Survey, Table B05006 http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_1YR/B05006
$39.0 billion – The value of goods imported from Ireland in 2015. Of that, the highest commodity category was Pharmaceuticals and Medicines at $25.0 billion.
Source: Trade in Goods with Ireland
www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c4190.html
–Thanks to Brother Bill Halpin (VA State Board VP) for assembling the above facts
PDF form: Census Bureau Facts IAHM 2017
