Polish Americans by the state

[franek80]

According to the United States 2000 Census, American states with the largest numbers of self-reported Poles and Americans of Polish ancestry are:

01 New York (986,141)
02 Illinois (932,996)
03 Michigan (854,844)
04 Pennsylvania (824,146)
05 New Jersey (576,473)
06 Wisconsin (497,726)
07 California (491,325)
08 Ohio (433,016)
09 Florida (429,691)
10 Massachusetts (323,210)
11 Connecticut (284,272)
12 Minnesota (240,405)
13 Texas (228,309)
14 Maryland (184,364)
15 Indiana (183,989)
16 Arizona (126,665)
17 Virginia (124,647)
18 Colorado (101,190)
19 Missouri (90,448)
20 Georgia (82,765)
...

49 Hawaii (10,770)
50 Wyoming (9,929)
51 District of Columbia (7,910)

[Jaga]

It is amazing that more people live in New York than in Chicago. It is because a state of New York and New Jersey have some small towns which also have Polish settlers.

Wyoming and DC (Washington) may have the lowest number of Poles - but compared to the total amount of population it is Utah which has the lowest number.

They did not specify - Idaho - 1 (Jaga) ?

[nancy]

admin said:

They did not specify - Idaho - 1 (Jaga) ?

and your neighbor makes 2, no?

[franek80]

My surprise came when I saw that Florida has more Poles than Mass. But then again Poles settled in Florida from every state

[bescheid]

Gollie

Washington (state) was not even listed! Well, perhaps too many vikings here.

Charles

[justjohn]

I feel hurt. There are at least three in New Hampshire.

[pieter]

I don't see California the biggest state and largest economy of the USA.

Pieter

[pieter]

www.capolonia.com/#

[pieter]

I think I am slowly going blind. California stood at 07 California with 491,325 people.
I love California, one of the few states I visited in the USA, and it is nice that there
are so many Poles overthere too. Jim in Spring Valley, and somebody else from San Diego.

Pieter

[jimpres]

Pieter,

We have about 800 families that attend the catholic church here in San Diego, and I commute from Spring Valley. I'm surprised we have that many in CA, many must be up north. We have only one Polish mission here.

[piwo]

Jaga,
Remember, Chicago is only a City, and New York State has approx. 6.8 million more people in the state then Illinois, New York City has more people then Chicago, yet Illinois is very close 2nd in overall Polish population. Kalifornia is the most populous, but they are 7th overall. Perhaps Polish immigrants are not partial to tofu and half caf- mocha lattes. ;D Just kidding... I love California, have non-Polish first cousins there, and visited that state more times then any other over the years..... That the east coast would keep the largest share is also very predictable, since the lions share of immigrants came into Ellis Island, or Baltimore Harbor. Many of our Harasim relatives live in Michigan, which is also very high on the list. Polonia lives on in the USA.....

[hollister]

Jaga,
I know of 7 Poles in Moscow, Idaho! As far as Florida, much to my surprise there are many Poles here! It is such a delight to be in a store and hear Polish being spoken - although the clerks who are thinking they can talk about the customers without anybody knowing what they are saying are quite surprised when you thank them in Polish as you leave! There is a WONDERFUL Polish store here in St Petersburg I am getting used to shopping there for treats - although as they have to follow US food import rules so there are things you can not get (such as the yummy cheese we discussed over on Bella etc...).

[franek80]

Piwo.
You are right in what you say..After all Chicago is but a city,but there is more to Illinous than
Chicago.. At one time it was said that there were more Poles in Chicago than Warsaw.. This is just something that I read. This maybe true at one time.. But after ww2 America began to prosper. This was the generation of the baby boomers ( NANCY ) LOL.. They were able to afford a higher education,then they took their familiesand moved to the suburbs,and out of state.. The old people were left behind, they chose to live amongst their own.
My concern is what is going to happen to Polonia when the first generation poles die off.. I am one. Our kids have lost the ability to speak polish.. Polish churches are closing down.. That eliminates Polish speaking schools

[piwo]

To this day, Chicago has the 2nd largest Polish speaking population of all the cities in the world, 2nd to only Warszawa. We have one "European Market" in the STL area (far from me), and the guy closes on Wednesday to drive to Chicago for "supplies" (@300 miles one way). I will not get there until April, but will bring back my own! I am 2nd generation born in this country: my grandparents from Poland, my mom 1st generation. I am only now, at 47 learning to speak, read and write Polish, and will have no family to talk it with soon. I missed the chance to teach my children, my grandchildren (someday) will be our only hope.

As for Poles in Florida, I was staying next to that pink colored hotel right on the beach in St. Petersburg onetime, and me and my colleges stopped at a, er, um, Liquor store close by(surprise) and there was a sign on the door: Czy mowisz po polsku". I told him, "tylko troche"... Family who owned the store were from Poland of course!

[Jaga]

hollister said:

Jaga,
I know of 7 Poles in Moscow, Idaho! As far as Florida, much to my surprise there are many Poles here! It is such a delight to be in a store and hear Polish being spoken - although the clerks who are thinking they can talk about the customers without anybody knowing what they are saying are quite surprised when you thank them in Polish as you leave! There is a WONDERFUL Polish store here in St Petersburg I am getting used to shopping there for treats - although as they have to follow US food import rules so there are things you can not get (such as the yummy cheese we discussed over on Bella etc...).

Florida has some Polish communities, internet websites and even stores so I was not very surprised to see Florida on Polonia map.

www.wwdir.com/polishcc.html

also the Polart store is in Florida