Ukrainian Americans

Ukrainian Americans (Ukrainian: Українські американці, romanized: Ukrainski amerykantsi) are Americans who are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.3% of the American population.^[1] The Ukrainian population of the United States is thus the second largest outside the former Eastern Bloc; only Canada has a larger Ukrainian community under this definition. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the metropolitan areas with the largest numbers of Ukrainian Americans are: New York City with 160,000; Philadelphia with 60,000; Chicago with 46,000; Detroit with 45,000; Los Angeles with 36,000; Cleveland with 26,000; Sacramento with 20,000;^[4] and Indianapolis with 19,000.^[5][6] In 2018, the number of Ukrainian Americans surpassed 1 million.^[7]

Ukrainian Americans

Українські американці
Total population
1,017,586 (0.31%)^[1] 2021 estimate, self reported
Regions with significant populations
New York City Metropolitan Area,^[2]Rochester Metropolitan Area, Rust Belt (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois), Midwest (Minnesota, North Dakota), Greater Los Angeles Area, Sacramento, Alaska, Washington state, and the Pacific Northwest in general, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia^[3]
Languages
English, Ukrainian, (unofficially) Russian
Religion
Predominantly Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek Catholic, with Protestant and Jewish minorities
Related ethnic groups
Other Ukrainians, Rusyn Americans, Belarusian Americans, Cossack Americans, Polish Americans, Russian Americans, and other Slavic peoples, especially East Slavs

History

 

Distribution of Ukrainian Americans, as a percentage of the population, according to the 2000 census.

 

The New York City Metropolitan Area, including Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York, and Fair Lawn in Bergen County, New Jersey, is home to by far the largest Ukrainian population in the United States.^[8]

Large-scale Ukrainian immigration to America did not begin until the 1880s.^[9]

From 1955 to 1965, St. Andrew Memorial Church in South Bound Brook, New Jersey, was constructed as a memorial honoring victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933.

The largest wave of Ukrainians came in the early 1990s, after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. A large number^[quantify] of those emigrating from Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union were Jewish or Protestant. Many Ukrainians of the newest immigration wave settled in large cities and regional centers, forming ethnic enclaves. In addition, many Ukrainian Americans arrived by way of Canada, which has a larger Ukrainian presence.

On September 11, 2001, 11 Ukrainian Americans perished at the World Trade Center in New York City during the acts of mass terrorism committed on that day. All of their names were listed and commemorated by Ukrinform, the National News Agency of Ukraine, during the nineteenth anniversary of the attacks in 2020.^[10]

Ukrainian Americans living in Northern New Jersey and the remainder of the Northeastern United States have long^[quantify] been politically vocal about Ukrainian affairs, often traveling to Washington, D.C., to express their concerns.^[11][12]

In Bloomingdale (near Chicago) on September 21, 2015, Filaret, the Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine, consecrated the first North American monument to the Revolution of Dignity's "Heavenly Hundred".^[13]

In February 2022, the Pastor Right Reverend Mitred Archpriest Philip Weiner, the leader of St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Rochester, New York, said that there were more than 40,000 Ukrainians in the Rochester Metropolitan Area, which would make it one of the largest Ukrainian American communities in the country.^[14]

There are a large number of Ukrainian Protestants in the Sacramento metropolitan area who have organized support to those affected by the invasion of Ukraine through their local congregations.^[15]

It's estimated that around 300,000 Ukrainians during 2022-2023 have sought asylum in the US through various means, making the US the fifth largest destination for refugees of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and also making Ukrainians one of the fastest growing ethnic groups that don't originate from the American continent.

Demographics

 

Ukrainian Institute of America, on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City.

 

St. Andrew Memorial Church in South Bound Brook, New Jersey was constructed as a memorial honoring victims of the Holodomor and serves as the headquarters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA.

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 892,922 Americans of full or partial Ukrainian descent. The New York City Metropolitan Area contains by far the largest Ukrainian community in the United States, due to historically receiving the highest number of Ukrainian immigrants.^[2]

The U.S. states with the largest Ukrainian populations are as follows:

New York	148,700
Pennsylvania	122,291
California	83,125
New Jersey	73,809
Ohio	48,908^[16]
Illinois	47,623

The total number of people born in Ukraine is more than 275,155 residents.^[17]

Ukrainian-born population

Ukrainian-born population in the U.S. since 2010:^[18]

Year	Number
2010	326,493
2011	340,468
2012	342,971
2013	345,187
2014	332,145
2015	345,620
2016	347,759
2017	354,494
2018	325,885
2019	354,832
2020	358,823
2021	398,040

U.S. communities with high percentages of people of Ukrainian ancestry

'Ukrainians in US Rally as War Fears Mount' - video from VOA

The top 20 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Ukrainian ancestry are:^[19]

1. Cass Township, Pennsylvania (Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania) 14.30%
2. Belfield, North Dakota 13.60%
3. Gulich Township, Pennsylvania 12.70%
4. Gilberton, Pennsylvania 12.40%
5. Wilton, North Dakota 10.30%
6. Lumberland, New York 9.90%
7. Saint Clair, Pennsylvania 8.80%
8. Soap Lake, Washington 8.10%
9. Frackville, Pennsylvania 7.60%
10. Olyphant, Pennsylvania and Norwegian Township, Pennsylvania 7.00%
11. Houtzdale, Pennsylvania 6.90%
12. Harmony Township, Pennsylvania (Beaver County, Pennsylvania) and Kerhonkson, New York 6.70%
13. Baden, Pennsylvania and McAdoo, Pennsylvania 5.90%
14. Branch Township, Pennsylvania and Postville, Iowa 5.70%
15. Woodward Township, Pennsylvania (Clearfield County, Pennsylvania) and Northampton, Pennsylvania 5.60%
16. Warren, New York and Independence, Ohio 5.50%
17. West Leechburg, Pennsylvania 5.40%
18. Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Mount Carmel Township, Pennsylvania, and Parma, Ohio 5.30%
19. Ford City, Pennsylvania 5.20%
20. Bigler Township, Pennsylvania and Kline Township, Pennsylvania 5.10%
21. Mayfield Heights, Ohio 3.4%

U.S. communities with the highest percentage of residents born in Ukraine

Top 20 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of residents born in Ukraine are:^[20]

1. Delta Junction, AK 16.4%
2. Deltana, AK 8.4%
3. Hamtramck, MI 8.0%
4. West Hollywood, CA 7.8%
5. Lumberland, NY 6.3%
6. Moses Lake North, WA 6.0%
7. Soap Lake, WA 6.0%
8. Postville, IA 5.9%
9. Warren, MI 4.0%
10. Chicago, IL 4.0%
11. Webster, NY 4.8%
12. Peaceful Valley, WA 4.8%
13. Pikesville, MD 4.5%
14. Kerhonkson, NY 3.9%
15. North Highlands, CA 3.6%
16. Rancho Cordova, CA 3.3%
17. Oak Park, MI 3.0%
18. Flying Hills, PA 3.2%
19. Waverly, NE 3.2%
20. Fair Lawn, NJ 3.1%
21. Buffalo Grove, IL 2.8%
22. Feasterville-Trevose, PA 2.6%
23. Smallwood, NY 2.5%
24. Solvay, NY 2.5%
25. North Port, FL 2.4%
26. Detroit, MI 1.0%

Notable people

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Ukrainian Americans.

See also

•  United States portal
•  Ukraine portal

• European Americans
• Hyphenated American
• The Ukrainian Museum (New York City)
• Ukrainian American Veterans
• Ukrainian Americans in New York City
• Ukrainian Americans in Los Angeles
• Ukrainian Australians
• Ukrainian Canadians
• Ukrainians in the United Kingdom
• Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
• Ukrainian Congress Committee of America
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
• Ukraine–United States relations

References

1. "Census 2021 ACS 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau.
2. "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
3. "Ameredia: Ukrainian American Demographics". www.ameredia.com. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
4. "Ukrainian Immigrants in California". Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
5. "Selected social characteristics in the United States: 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. State Census Bureau. 2010. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
6. . Informed Decisions, Inc. 2001. Archived from the original (XLS) on February 28, 2009.
7. Wolowyna, Oleh (May 11, 2018). "Ukrainians in the United States have reached 1 million". The Ukrainian Weekly. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
8. "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
9. Paul Robert Magocsi. (1996). A History of Ukraine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
10. "З нагоди роковин теракту в США 11 вересня згадали загиблих українського походження" [Victims of Ukrainian descent were commemorated on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States] (in Ukrainian). Ukrinform. September 11, 2020. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
11. Minjae Park (September 18, 2014). "Ukrainian president greets North Jersey residents at D.C. rally". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
12. Mary Diduch (August 24, 2015). "North Jersey Ukrainians pitch in for wounded countrymen". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
13. "Monument to Heavenly Hundred unveiled in Chicago". UAWire.org. September 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
14. Wright, Wendy (March 23, 2022). "Rochester's Ukrainian community on 'pins and needles'". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
15. "Sacramento's dense population of Ukrainian immigrants are sending help back home". NPR.org. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
16. "Total ancestry categories tallied for people with one or more ancestry categories reported: 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. State Census Bureau. 2009. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
17. "Table FBP-1. Profile of Selected Demographic and Social Characteristics: 2000" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
18. Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
19. . Epodunk.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
20. "Top 101 cities with the most residents born in Ukraine (population 500+)". city-data.com. Retrieved August 12, 2008.

Sources

• Kuropas, Myron B.; Shust, Maria; Pevna, Chrystyna (1984). To Preserve A Heritage: The Story of the Ukrainian Immigration in the United States. New York: The Ukrainian Museum. 84-050811.
• Magocsi, Paul R., ed. (1979), The Ukrainian Experience in the United States: A Symposium, Sources and Documents, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, ISBN 0-916458-04-0

Further reading

• Bohachevsky-Chomiak, Martha (2018). Ukrainian Bishop, American Church: Constantine Bohachevsky and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Washington: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 9780813231594.
• Fedunkiw, Marianne P. "Ukrainian Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 4, Gale, 2014), pp. 459–474. online
• Lushnycky, Alex. Ukrainians of Greater Philadelphia (2007), ISBN 978-0-7385-5040-4
• Kuropas, Myron B.Ukrainians of Chicagoland (2006), ISBN 0-7385-4099-4
• Wichar, Nancy Karen. Ukrainians of Metropolitan Detroit (2010), ISBN 978-0-7385-7716-6

External links

• Ukrainian Chicago
• Ukrainian American Heritage Days festival