You’ve probably heard it a million times. "New York has more Jews than Jerusalem." It’s one of those classic city facts, right up there with "don’t look at people on the subway" and "everything is too expensive." But if you actually dig into the numbers for 2026, the reality is a little more complicated—and a lot more interesting—than just a catchy slogan.
Honestly, counting people is hard. Counting a community defined by both religion and culture is even harder. But thanks to massive recent efforts like the UJA-Federation of New York’s latest deep dive and follow-up studies, we have the clearest picture we've had in a decade.
The big number: 960,000 and counting
So, let's get right to it. How many Jews live in New York City? As of the most recent reliable estimates heading into 2026, there are approximately 960,000 Jewish people living within the five boroughs of New York City.
Wait.
That’s a big number. If you expand that to the "eight-county" area—adding in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester—the total jumps to roughly 1.372 million. If you include every person living in a household where at least one Jewish person lives (which includes non-Jewish spouses or roommates), you’re looking at nearly 1.8 million people.
That is a massive chunk of the city's DNA.
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Basically, about 12% of New York City’s total population is Jewish. Think about that. Every eighth person you pass on the sidewalk in Manhattan or see at a deli in Queens is part of this story. It’s a density you just don't find anywhere else on this side of the Atlantic.
Breaking it down by borough
New York isn't a monolith. Every borough has its own vibe, and that extends to where the Jewish community sets up shop.
- Brooklyn is the heavy hitter. It’s home to about 462,000 Jews. That is more than the entire Jewish population of Tel Aviv. Let that sink in. One out of every four people in Brooklyn is Jewish.
- Manhattan is seeing a surge. While other areas shifted, Manhattan's Jewish household numbers jumped about 27% in recent years. Today, there are around 277,000 Jews calling the island home.
- Queens stays steady. With about 150,000, it remains a massive hub, particularly for Bukharian and Central Asian Jewish communities in neighborhoods like Rego Park and Forest Hills.
- Staten Island and the Bronx are smaller but distinct, with roughly 38,000 and 33,000 respectively.
What the "Jerusalem" comparison gets wrong
Is it still the "most Jewish" city?
Technically, if you look at "city proper" limits, New York City often edges out Jerusalem. But it's a tight race. Jerusalem’s Jewish population is around 570,000 to 600,000, though its total population is much smaller than NYC's 8 million+. However, when you look at metropolitan areas, the Tel Aviv district is home to nearly 4 million Jews.
So, New York is the largest Jewish city outside of Israel. Period.
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It’s also surprisingly diverse. We aren't just talking about the classic Ashkenazi image of bagels and Seinfeld. About 12% of Jewish New Yorkers identify as non-white—this includes Black, Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial Jews. Plus, around 10% are Sephardic or Mizrachi, including the famous Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn.
The poverty secret nobody talks about
There’s a stereotype that the Jewish community in New York is universally wealthy. The data says otherwise.
Nearly 1 in 5 Jewish households in the New York area is considered poor or "near-poor." We are talking about 428,000 people living under 250% of the federal poverty guideline. A huge chunk of this is concentrated in the Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) communities in Brooklyn, where families are often large and the cost of living in the city is, frankly, brutal.
In fact, over 80% of Jewish children living in poverty in NYC belong to Haredi households. It’s a real, systemic challenge that local non-profits like the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty struggle with every single day.
Shifting identities in 2026
What does it mean to be "Jewish" in the city right now?
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The traditional labels—Reform, Conservative, Orthodox—are losing their grip on the younger generation. Nearly 47% of Jewish households now report no specific denominational tie. They might do Shabbat dinner, or they might just feel "culturally Jewish," but they aren't signing up for a specific synagogue movement.
On the flip side, the Orthodox population is remarkably stable. While Reform and Conservative numbers have dipped slightly in terms of total percentage, the high birth rates in Hasidic neighborhoods like Borough Park and Williamsburg keep the overall numbers buoyed. Borough Park actually has the highest birth rate in the entire city.
How to explore Jewish New York
If you want to see these numbers in "real life," you don't look at a spreadsheet. You go to the streets.
- Lower East Side: Go to the Tenement Museum. It’s the origin story. It’s where those millions of people first landed.
- Williamsburg/Borough Park: This is where you see the vibrant, visible growth of the Hasidic community. It feels like a different world, right in the middle of Brooklyn.
- Upper West Side: Still the classic hub for liberal, intellectual Jewish life.
- Brighton Beach: To understand the Russian-speaking Jewish experience, which makes up about 9% of the local population.
The number isn't just a stat. It's a living, breathing part of why New York feels like New York. Whether it's the 13,000 Holocaust survivors still living among us (mostly in Brooklyn) or the 18-year-old moving to Manhattan for college, the community is constantly reinventing itself.
If you're looking for the most up-to-date resources, the UJA-Federation of New York's Community Study is the gold standard. They update these figures every few years with massive surveys that take months to compile. It's the best way to see where the city is headed next.
Check out local neighborhood maps from the NYC Department of City Planning to see how these demographic shifts overlap with the city's broader housing and economic trends. Understanding these numbers is the first step in understanding the past—and future—of New York itself.