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Jamaican Population in United States
Jamaican Americans are people who self-identified as of Caribbean origin; this includes immigrants from Jamaica and those who trace their family ancestry to Jamaica. As per US Census 2020, an estimated 1.2 million people of Jamaican origin resided in the United States.
They are a sub-group of West Indian Americans* and are the largest population of West Indian origin living in the United States, accounting for 38% of the West Indian American population. The vast majority of Jamaican Americans are of black African-Caribbean descent, and many are also of full or partial Indian Jamaican, Chinese Jamaican, European, and Lebanese descent.
*West Indian Americans are also known as English-speaking Caribbean* immigrants and they trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. Caribbean Americans which is a wider term are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in time mostly to Africa, as well as Asia, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and Europe.
also read about West Indians in the United States
Jamaican Population by U.S. States
Jamaican Americans make up 0.35% of the U.S. population and Jamaicans are the largest population of West Indians living in the United States. The largest state by Jamaican population is New York (27%), Florida (26.81%), and Georgia (6%).
Top States with Jamaican Population
| # | State | Pop. 2020 | % of Total |
| 1 | New York | 313,854 | 27.01% |
| 2 | Florida | 311,589 | 26.81% |
| 3 | Georgia | 69,353 | 5.97% |
| 4 | New Jersey | 63,832 | 5.49% |
| 5 | Connecticut | 57,155 | 4.92% |
| 6 | Maryland | 46,652 | 4.01% |
| 7 | California | 36,249 | 3.12% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 35,329 | 3.04% |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 32,653 | 2.81% |
| 10 | Texas | 29,614 | 2.55% |
| 11 | Virginia | 21,776 | 1.87% |
| 12 | North Carolina | 20,359 | 1.75% |
| 13 | Illinois | 15,577 | 1.34% |
| 14 | Ohio | 10,742 | 0.92% |
| 15 | South Carolina | 9,479 | 0.82% |
| 16 | Michigan | 9,036 | 0.78% |
| 17 | Washington | 5,566 | 0.48% |
| 18 | Arizona | 5,526 | 0.48% |
| 19 | Tennessee | 5,055 | 0.44% |
| 20 | District of Columbia | 4,811 | 0.41% |
| 21 | Alabama | 4,623 | 0.40% |
| 22 | Delaware | 4,405 | 0.38% |
| 23 | Colorado | 4,234 | 0.36% |
| 24 | Missouri | 3,814 | 0.33% |
| 25 | Indiana | 3,552 | 0.31% |
| 26 | Nevada | 3,472 | 0.30% |
| 27 | Wisconsin | 3,404 | 0.29% |
| 28 | Minnesota | 3,271 | 0.28% |
| 29 | Louisiana | 3,075 | 0.26% |
| 30 | Rhode Island | 2,528 | 0.22% |
| 31 | Oklahoma | 2,183 | 0.19% |
| 32 | Mississippi | 2,029 | 0.17% |
| 33 | Oregon | 1,834 | 0.16% |
| 34 | New Hampshire | 1,831 | 0.16% |
| 35 | Kentucky | 1,664 | 0.14% |
| 36 | Kansas | 1,457 | 0.13% |
| 37 | Maine | 1,371 | 0.12% |
| 38 | Iowa | 1,225 | 0.11% |
| 39 | Hawaii | 1,134 | 0.10% |
| 40 | West Virginia | 987 | 0.08% |
| 41 | Utah | 876 | 0.08% |
| 42 | Vermont | 709 | 0.06% |
| 43 | Arkansas | 701 | 0.06% |
| 44 | Nebraska | 679 | 0.06% |
| 45 | New Mexico | 659 | 0.06% |
| 46 | North Dakota | 596 | 0.05% |
| 47 | Alaska | 580 | 0.05% |
| 48 | Idaho | 394 | 0.03% |
| 49 | South Dakota | 208 | 0.02% |
| 50 | Montana | 145 | 0.01% |
| 51 | Wyoming | 129 | 0.01% |
| 52 | Puerto Rico | 76 | 0.01% |
| – | United States | 1,162,052 |
Source: US Census 2020
also read about the Population of Jamaica
Top U.S. Cities by Jamaican population
The New York Metro area with 345,322 people of Jamaican ancestry, has the largest population of Jamaican Americans. It’s followed by Miami (188,973) and the Atlanta metro area (64,748).
Metro Areas by Jamaican Population
| # | Metro Area | Population |
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 345,322 |
| 2 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | 188,973 |
| 3 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | 64,748 |
| 4 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 49,352 |
| 5 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 39,152 |
| 6 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 35,346 |
| 7 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | 32,469 |
| 8 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 24,461 |
| 9 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 22,279 |
| 10 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | 20,823 |
| 11 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 17,795 |
| 12 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 14,964 |
| 13 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 13,021 |
| 14 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 10,402 |
| 15 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 10,053 |
| 16 | Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY | 9,069 |
| 17 | New Haven-Milford, CT | 8,996 |
| 18 | Jacksonville, FL | 8,988 |
| 19 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | 8,715 |
| 20 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 8,520 |
Source: US Census Estimates 2021
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