Ethnic composition of white population by state

[King of Kensington]

This is from 2013 ACS with First Ancestry to prevent overlap, and to cluster a few related groups together.  No data for some less populated states.

British/American includes American ancestry and the British Isles ancestries except Irish.

German includes German, German from Russia, Pennsylvania German and Swiss.

Scandinavian includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Scandinavian.

French combines French and French Canadian responses.



Alabama

British/American  23.2%
Irish  6.3%
German  4.8%

Arizona

British/American  12.8%
German  10.2%
Irish  5.5%

Arkansas

British/American  23.5%
German  8%
Irish  6.6%

California

British/American  8%
German  5.4%
Irish  4%

Colorado

German  14.4%
British/American  14.4%
Irish  7.1%

Connecticut

Italian  14.5%
British/American  10.2%
Irish  10%
Polish  5.5%
French  5.1%
German  5.1%

Florida

British/American  15.4%
German  6.9%
Irish  5.8%

Georgia

British/American  20.3%
Irish  5.4%
German  4.8%

Illinois

German  13.3%
British/American  9.3%
Irish  7.2%
Polish  5.2%

Indiana

German  18.5%
British/American  17.9%
Irish  6.9%

Iowa

German  26.5%
British/American  13.5%
Irish  7.4%
Scandinavian  6.9%

Kansas

German  22.2%
British/American  16.2%
Irish  7%

Kentucky

British/American  30.2%
German  10.8%
Irish  8.1%

Louisiana

British/American  14.9%
French  12.4%
Irish  4.9%
German  4.7%

Maryland

British/American  11.1%
German  9.1%
Irish  7%

Massachusetts

Irish  15%
British/American  11.7%
Italian  9.8%
French  7.1%

Michigan

German  14.1%
British/American  13.5%
Irish  6.3%
Polish  6%

Minnesota

German  25.9%
Scandinavian  16.4%
British/American  7.3%
Irish  5.5%

Missouri

German  18.8%
British/American  17.8%
Irish  7.5%

Nebraska

German  29.7%
British/American  10.4%
Irish  6.9%
Scandinavian  5.4%

Nevada

British/American  10.7%
German  7.9%
Irish  5.4%

New Hampshire

British/American  19.3%
French  17.1%
Irish  13.3%
Italian  7.6%
German  5.1%

New Jersey

Italian  13.4%
Irish  9.3%
British/American  7.3%
German  6.1%

New Mexico

British/American  9.6%
German  6.1%
Irish  4.2%

New York

Italian  10.7%
British/American  8.8%
Irish  7.9%
German  6.4%

North Carolina

British/American  22.9%
German  7.2%
Irish  5.8%

Ohio

German  19.7%
British/American  15.7%
Irish  7.8%

Oklahoma

British/American  16.7%
German  10.3%
Irish  7.2%

Oregon

British/American  15.6%
German  13.9%
Irish  7.1%

Pennsylvania

German  19.4%
British/American  11.2%
Irish  10%
Italian  9.4%

Rhode Island

Italian  15%
Irish  11.6%
French  10.7%
British/American  9.7%
Portuguese  6.6%

South Carolina

British/American  21.5%
German  7%
Irish  6.7%

Tennessee

British/American  26.8%
Irish  7.1%
German  6.9%

Texas

British/American  11.6%
German  7.1%
Irish  4.4%

Utah

British/American  30.1%
Scandinavian  7.8%
German  7.7%

Virginia

British/American  20.9%
German  7.8%
Irish  6.3%

Washington

British/American  14.4%
German  12.3%
Irish  6.6%
Scandinavian  6.4%

Wisconsin

German  32.6%
British/American  7.3%
Scandinavian  7.3%
Irish  5.4%
Polish  5.4%

[King of Kensington]

The split between Anglo-Saxon South, German Midwest/Pennsylvania, and Irish/Italian Catholic Northeast is quite clear.   

[H. Ross Peron]

Most self-reported ethnicity measures are favourable towards more recently arrived ancestry groups (ie New Immigrants like Italians) and usually underreport the number of those of British descent due to people identifying more with their most recent immigrant ancestors.

[Alcibiades]

Most self-reported ethnicity measures are favourable towards more recently arrived ancestry groups (ie New Immigrants like Italians) and usually underreport the number of those of British descent due to people identifying more with their most recent immigrant ancestors.

This is obvious by looking at how far more white Americans have English surnames (even if some are Anglicisations, it’s not enough to explain the differential) than report English ancestry.

[King of Kensington]

Something like half of white Americans apparently have roots dating to colonial times, and at that time the population was something like 60% English ancestry, 10% German ancestry. 

[King of Kensington]

The % not reporting any ancestry also lines up with English/Scots-Irish ancestry:

Alabama  22%
Arizona  13.8%
Arkansas  23%
California  10.1%
Colorado  15.2%
Connecticut  11.1%
Florida  14.6%
Georgia  16.1%
Illinois  13.4%
Indiana  22.8%
Iowa  17%
Kansas  17.1%
Kentucky  24.4%
Louisiana  14.4%
Maryland  15.2%
Massachusetts  11.4%
Michigan  15.6%
Minnesota  12.9%
Missouri  21.3%
Nevada  11.6%
New Hampshire  13.8%
New Jersey  10.2%
New Mexico  12.3%
New York  12%
North Carolina  17.8%
Ohio  18.7%
Oklahoma  20.3%
Oregon  17.5%
Pennsylvania  14.6%
Rhode Island  9.9%
South Carolina  19.3%
Tennessee  21.9%
Texas  12.9%
Utah  15.7%
Virginia  16%
Washington  15%
Wisconsin  13%

[King of Kensington]

So the least "WASP" states in America are Minnesota/Wisconsin and NY/NJ (and probably Hawaii).

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

So the least "WASP" states in America are Minnesota/Wisconsin and NY/NJ (and probably Hawaii).

It feels legitimately bad to put the Scotch-Irish in "WASP" but not the Scandinavians (or Protestant Germans, even) in my opinion.

[King of Kensington]

Why?  The "Scotch-Irish" Appalachian areas were more English than Scots-Irish.  It's kind of a weird pseudo-history.  Proponents of the "Scotch-Irish" thesis even include the northern English as Scotch-Irish.

[King of Kensington]

German and Scandinavian Americans have pretty much bleneded into the white mainstream, though there's some residue of the culture in Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Irish outside the Northeast are pretty "generic American" too. 

[Idaho Conservative]

So the least "WASP" states in America are Minnesota/Wisconsin and NY/NJ (and probably Hawaii).

MN and WI are overwhelmingly white so would be higher than the others for that reason.  CA would be one of the lowest

[King of Kensington]

Most self-reported ethnicity measures are favourable towards more recently arrived ancestry groups (ie New Immigrants like Italians) and usually underreport the number of those of British descent due to people identifying more with their most recent immigrant ancestors.

This is obvious by looking at how far more white Americans have English surnames (even if some have are Anglicisations, it’s not enough to explain the differential) than report English ancestry.

There was a big drop-off of English ancestry responses after 1980, while German ancestry stayed more or less constant.

[King of Kensington]

When I added up the first ancestries, I included "German from Russia", "Pennsylvania German" and "Swiss" to get the German American population.  I excluded Austrian because a lot of people with roots in the Austro-Hungarian Empire seemed to have marked it and were not necessarily descended from German speaking Austrians (a lot of descendants of Galician Jews are listed as "Austrian Americans" on Wikipedia for example).  I included Swiss ancestry because its numbers correlate closely with Pennsylvania German settlement.

[Crumpets]

Most self-reported ethnicity measures are favourable towards more recently arrived ancestry groups (ie New Immigrants like Italians) and usually underreport the number of those of British descent due to people identifying more with their most recent immigrant ancestors.

Yeah, when I answer the ancestry question on the census (or on surveys like this), I answer with Basque because that's the only ancestry group in my family that I feel any kind of cultural attachment to since they were the only ones to come to the US in the last 100 years. A greater percentage of my ancestry is from the UK and Germany, but that was so many generations ago, there's basically no cultural carry-over.

[Figueira]

So the least "WASP" states in America are Minnesota/Wisconsin and NY/NJ (and probably Hawaii).

It feels legitimately bad to put the Scotch-Irish in "WASP" but not the Scandinavians (or Protestant Germans, even) in my opinion.

"WASP" is not a relevant term in the present day.

[pikachu]

Surprised there aren’t any backgrounds you’d associate with Jewish people in NY, NJ, and a couple other states.

[Figueira]

Surprised there aren’t any backgrounds you’d associate with Jewish people in NY, NJ, and a couple other states.

Jews are not that big a percentage even in those states, and as you alluded to, they aren't all going to list the same ancestry group (I think most would list their ancestry as Jewish though).

[King of Kensington]

Only in NY and NJ do Jews exceed 5% of the population, and they're split across multiple groups, though Russian ancestry is most common.  Specific "Jewish" responses (religion) are not tallied.

[King of Kensington]

Northeast

Italian  10.8%
British/American  10.4%
Irish 9.9%
German 8.7%


Midwest

German 20.1%
British/American 12.8%
Irish 6.8%


South

British/American 17.9%
German 7.1%
Irish 5.9%


West

British/American 11.4%
German 8.3%
Irish  4.9%