Jews constitute just over 2% of the U.S. population. The Jewish population is widely distributed geographically in that more than 40% of all CDs are at least 1% Jewish, but only 21 CDs are 10% or more Jewish, according to a detailed map of all Congressional Districts – a project that was partially funded as a 2013 Summer Research Fellowship to Dr. Comenetz by the Berman Jewish DataBank at The Jewish Federations of North America.

In 10 of New York’s Congressional District, Jews make up more than 10% of the general population. There are 13 CDs with 100,000 or more Jews, nine in New York and two each in California and Florida — the three states with the highest total Jewish populations.

Top of the list is 10th Congressional District – that includes NYC, Borough Park and Bensonhurst – represented by Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler with 197,000 Jews, an estimated 27.4 percent of the general population.

According to a UJA survey, Brooklyn is the county with the largest Jewish population in the nation.

Florida’s 21th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Ted Deutsch, is the 2nd largest district with 24.3 percent and New York’s CD-9 (Flatbush and parts of Park Slope, Brownsville, and Sheepshead Bay), represented by Yvette Clarke, and is the 3rd largest in the nation and the 2nd largest in New York, with 168,000 Jewish residents (23.4%).

Staten Island’s 11th Congressional District is the largest district with a Jewish population that is represented by a Republican. According to the report, 129,000 Jews (18%) reside in Congressman Michael Grimm’s district. The Republican’s Largest Jewish District is undergoing a competitive race between the incumbent and his Democratic challenger Dominic Recchia.

Over 80% of all American Jews live in in roughly 120 congressional districts. The remaining 316 CDs collectively have few Jews. The 100 CDs with the fewest Jews have only 62,000 combined — not enough to comprise even 10% of the population if all moved to live in just one of the 100 least – Jewish CDs.

Just recently, The Pew Research Center conducted the most comprehensive national study of the American Jewish population in a dozen years. The survey covers a wide range of topics, including population estimates, demographic characteristics, Jewish identity, religious beliefs and practices, intermarriage, connections with Israel, and social and political views.

The PEW survey estimates the Jewish population in the United States at 6.7 million, including 5.3 million Jewish adults and 1.3 million Jewish children. Of the 1.5 million Jewish people in the New York Jewish community, nearly half a million are Orthodox, 216,000 live in Russian-speaking households, and about 12 percent of all Jewish households are biracial or nonwhite, according to the UJA’s 2012 survey.

(Jacob Kornbluh- YWN)