The eight-county New York area is home to around 1.4 million Jews, according to UJA-Federation of New York’s Jewish Community Study of New York 2023.
Released on Sunday, the study is based on nearly 6,000 questionnaires completed during the spring of 2023.
The study examines and reports on community size, demographics, poverty, mental health, Jewish ritual observance and participation in Jewish programs.
“The 2023 Jewish Community Study of New York offers a comprehensive snapshot of our community. Particularly in this challenging moment, these insights will help guide funding decisions so we can reach people where they are and ensure the strength of our Jewish community and the institutions serving them,” said Eric S. Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of New York.
In 2023, an estimated 13,000 Holocaust survivors were living in Jewish households in the eight-county area, 92% of whom lived in New York City. The largest number of these individuals live in Brooklyn, accounting for 65% of the survivors in the eight-county area.
14% of Jewish households include a person who identifies as LGBTQ+. The overall percentage of married couples who are intermarried is 37%. In the eight-county area, 28% of Jewish adults are above the age of 65.
One in eight Jewish adults (12%) identifies as non-white (Black, Asian, multiracial, or other) and/or Hispanic. This includes the 7% of Jews who did not identify as white in our study, plus an additional 5% who identified as white and Hispanic.
About 20% of Jewish nursing homes in New York are living below or near the poverty line. More than a third of Jewish children in New York are living below or near the poverty line. Poverty is mainly concentrated in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island. Furthermore, the data shows that 20% of New York Jews are Reform, 19% are Orthodox, 15% are Conservative and 46% do not identify with any denomination or with other denominations.
Over the past three decades, the New York area has experienced broad stability in the total number of Jewish adults and children in the eight-county area, with the Jewish population hovering around 1.4 million people.