If you’ve ever walked down 13th Avenue in Borough Park on a Friday afternoon, you know the feeling. The rush. The sheer volume of people. It’s a specific kind of energy that makes you realize NYC isn’t just a city with a lot of Jews—it is the pulse of the Jewish world outside of Israel. But if you try to pin down an exact number for how many jewish people live in new york city, you’ll find that the "official" answer depends entirely on who is doing the counting and where they drew the line on the map.
Numbers change.
According to the most recent comprehensive data from the UJA-Federation of New York’s 2023 study—which has remained the gold standard into 2026—there are approximately 960,000 Jewish people living within the five boroughs of New York City.
That’s nearly a million people. To put that in perspective, there are more Jewish residents in NYC than there are people in the entire city of San Francisco. If you expand that view to include the surrounding "eight-county" area (adding Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk), the number jumps to 1.372 million.
Basically, about one out of every eight New Yorkers is Jewish.
Why the Count for How Many Jewish People Live in New York City is So Complicated
You can’t just check the U.S. Census. The federal government is actually prohibited from asking questions about religion. Because of that, researchers have to get creative. They use "Jewish households" as a starting point—defined as any home with at least one Jewish adult—and then work backward through surveys and local communal data.
It’s an imperfect science.
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Honestly, the population has stayed surprisingly stable over the last twenty years. People kept saying the pandemic would cause a mass exodus. They predicted the suburbs would swallow the city’s Jewish core. It didn't happen. While some families did head for Florida or New Jersey, the high birth rates in Orthodox communities and a post-2022 return to Manhattan have kept the total hovering right around that 960,000 mark.
The Borough Breakdown
Where everyone actually lives is where it gets interesting.
- Brooklyn: The heavyweight champion. With about 462,000 Jewish residents, Brooklyn alone has a larger Jewish population than Tel Aviv. It is the heart of the Haredi and Hasidic worlds, but also home to the progressive "Brownstone Brooklyn" crowd in Park Slope.
- Manhattan: Coming in second with roughly 277,000 people. Manhattan saw a massive 27% spike in Jewish households between 2011 and 2023. If you walk through the Upper West Side, you’re in one of the densest Jewish neighborhoods on the planet.
- Queens: Home to about 150,000 Jews. It’s incredibly diverse here, with massive Bukharian communities in Rego Park and Forest Hills.
- The Bronx & Staten Island: These are the smaller hubs, with roughly 33,000 and 38,000 residents respectively. The Bronx, specifically Riverdale, remains a vital pocket of Jewish life.
The Rising Influence of the Orthodox Community
You can't talk about how many jewish people live in new york city without talking about the demographic shift toward Orthodoxy.
While the overall number is stable, the composition of that number is changing fast. About 19% of Jewish households in the area identify as Orthodox. But because those households tend to have more children, the percentage of Jewish people who are Orthodox is much higher—roughly 30%.
In Brooklyn, that number is even more lopsided. Nearly 37% of Brooklyn's Jews identify as Orthodox. This isn't just a religious statistic; it’s a cultural and political one. We saw this in the 2025 mayoral cycle, where Jewish turnout in neighborhoods like Midwood and Borough Park reached record highs, proving that this demographic isn't just growing—it's flexing its muscle.
A Community of Extremes
The New York Jewish experience is kind of a "tale of two cities." On one hand, you have the "moderately engaged" or "minimally engaged" groups. These are often the highly educated, liberal, and high-earning New Yorkers you find in SoHo or the Upper West Side.
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On the other hand, poverty is a massive, often overlooked issue.
Nearly 1 in 5 Jewish households in NYC is considered poor or "near-poor." This is most concentrated in Brooklyn, particularly among the Haredi population and elderly Russian-speaking Jews. It's a stark reminder that the "wealthy New Yorker" trope doesn't apply to a huge chunk of the community.
What Most People Get Wrong About NYC's Jewish Diversity
People usually think of "Jewish" and "White" as synonymous in New York.
That’s outdated.
About 12% of Jewish adults in the New York area identify as non-white or Hispanic. We’re talking about Black, Asian, and Multiracial Jews who are an integral part of the city’s fabric. Additionally, about 10% of the community identifies as Sephardic or Mizrahi. The Syrian Jewish community in south Brooklyn is one of the most cohesive and economically powerful subgroups in the city.
Then there are the Russian-speaking Jews (RSJs).
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There are about 90,000 RSJ adults in the region. If you’ve ever had a meal in Brighton Beach, you've seen this world. It’s a culture built on a specific history of migration from the former Soviet Union, and it remains a distinct, vibrant piece of the 960,000 total.
How Many Jewish People Live in New York City: The Future Outlook
So, where is this going?
The data suggests "broad stability." We aren't seeing a collapse, but we are seeing a shift in where people are. Manhattan is getting younger and more crowded with "nondenominational" Jews. Brooklyn is getting more Orthodox.
Is New York still the "Jewish Capital" of the world?
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv might argue the point based on pure percentages, but in terms of sheer cultural, economic, and political impact, NYC remains the center of gravity for the Diaspora. Whether it’s the 13,000 Holocaust survivors still living in the city or the thousands of young Israelis moving to Brooklyn for the tech scene, the community isn't just surviving; it's evolving.
Next Steps for Understanding the Community:
- Check the Neighborhood Level: If you’re looking for specific data on your own area, the UJA-Federation’s "Interactive Data Tool" allows you to filter by zip code.
- Support Local Infrastructure: With 20% of households facing financial hardship, organizations like the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty are the best places to look if you want to help.
- Explore the Diversity: Visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan to see how these 960,000 stories weave together into a single history.
The numbers tell us the "how many," but walking the streets of the city is the only way to understand the "who."