Facts and Statistics about Antisemitism in the U.S.
7.5 Million +
is the total Jewish population, both adult and children, in the U.S. This includes those who practice their religion and those who do not. (Brandeis)
Around 2.4%
of the U.S. adult population is Jewish, a percentage that has remained relatively stable in recent decades. (Pew Research)
Since 2021
the share of Americans who say Jews face significant discrimination has doubled to 40%. (Pew Research)
60% of all religious
hate crimes were committed against Jews in the four years through 2023. (FBI)
62% of U.S. Jews
enjoy sharing Jewish culture and holidays with their non-Jewish friends. (Pew Research)
A total of 6,271
anti-Jewish hate crimes were reported between 2019 and 2023, with Jewish people saying they feel increasingly less safe. (FBI)
61% of anti-Jewish
hate crimes in the United States in the four years leading up to 2023 involved vandalism of property. (FBI)
Since 2016
American Jews have been the target of at least 21 extremist plots or credible threats, some of which yielded deadly consequences. (ADL)
Jewish institutions
including community centers and temples are also vulnerable targets, with 27% of attacks on Jewish people happening in residential areas or their homes. (FBI)
One in every seven
anti-Jewish hate crimes between 2017-22 took place at elementary or secondary schools, or on college campuses. (FBI)
Highly antisemitic Americans
are 2-3 times more likely than the general population to support political violence to achieve political goals. (ADL)
At least 12-15%
of American Jews are people of color. That’s over a million Jews of color in the U.S. alone, and the younger Jewish population is growing in diversity. (JOCI)
Since the mid-1600s
Jews have been living in America, first arriving in New Amsterdam, the modern-day New York and home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. (Library of Congress)
In a 1790 declaration
to the Newport Hebrew Congregation, George Washington wrote the U.S. gives “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” (Library of Congress)
A growing proportion
of antisemitic incidents incorporate anti-Israel or anti-Zionist elements, such as graffiti. Students are sometimes targeted for perceived support of, or loyalty to, Israel. (ADL)
“globalist”
and “cosmopolitan elite,” along with similar terms, may function as antisemitic dog whistles and personalized slurs in certain contexts. (AJC)
Dangerous antisemitic tropes
took hold in medieval Europe, where Jews were accused of everything from child murder to poisoning wells. Versions of these myths persist to this day. (Facing History)
26% of American Jews
said they were a target of an antisemitic incident, whether verbal, physical, in person or online, according to a 2022 survey. (AJC)
23% of Jewish adults
avoided wearing, carrying, or displaying things that might help people identify them as Jewish in the previous 12 months. (AJC)
Racialized antisemitism
is the idea that Jews are a distinct race of people with fixed traits. It is often used as a means to demonize and debase Jewishness. (Facing History)
As many as 85%
of young Jewish people aged 18-29 have seen or were targets of online antisemitism in the preceding 12 months. (AJC)
Conspiracies
often consist of common antisemitic tropes such as Jews are imposters (“not real Jews”), and that they control media banks and government. (AJC)
The U.S. government
continues to take antisemitism seriously, with a national strategy to combat antisemitism published in 2023. (White House)
Types of antisemitism witnessed
on college campuses include hate speech, wishing death on Jews, discrimination, bullying, harassment, physical assault and vandalism. (ADL)
