European ancestry in Pennsylvania

Europeans account for nearly 73.47% of Pennsylvania’s population. German, Irish, Italian and English Americans have made up the four largest European ancestry groups in Pennsylvania.

As per the Census report, German Americans made up 21.80% of the population and numbered over 2.8 million members. Irish Americans made up 15% of the population and numbered over 1.9 million. 

Italian Americans made up 10.80 percent of the population and numbered over 1.4 million followed by English ancestry at 6.90 percent of the population and numbered over 0.8 million.

Other Europeans who make good numbers are Polish (6.10%), French (1.50%), Slovak (1.40%), Scottish (1.40%), Dutch (1.30%), Russian (1.30%), Welsh (1.20%) and Scotch-Irish (1.10%)

African Americans in Pennsylvania

As of 2020, those of African ancestry accounted for 10.53% of Pennsylvania’s population and are the second largest group in Pennsylvania. People of African descent are currently the largest ethnic group in Philadelphia. Originally arriving in the 17th century as enslaved Africans, the population of African Americans grew in the 18th and 19th centuries to include numerous free black residents who were active in the abolitionist movement and as conductors in the Underground Railroad.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, Black Philadelphians actively campaigned against discrimination and continued to contribute to Philadelphia’s cultural, economic, and political life as workers, activists, artists, musicians, and politicians.

Hispanics and Latinos in Pennsylvania

Hispanics and Latinos are the Third-largest groups in Pennsylvania after non-Hispanic European and African Americans. Around 8% of Pennsylvania’s Population claims Hispanic or Latin American ethnicity. Pennsylvania cities with the largest Hispanic populations are  Reading (69.0%), Hazleton (63.1%), Allentown (54.2%), Lebanon (46.2%), and Lancaster (40.2%). 

Asian Americans in Pennsylvania

Asian Americans are a sizable minority group in Pennsylvania. Americans of Asian descent formed 3.90 percent of the population. Its ethnic Asian population has grown rapidly since the late 1990s; the majority are Indians, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and ethnic Chinese.

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*US Census recognized five racial categories (White, Black or African American, Asian American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) as well as people of two or more races. 

It also classified respondents as “Hispanic or Latino” or “Not Hispanic or Latino”, identifying Hispanic and Latino as an ethnicity (not a race), which comprises the largest minority group in the nation.