Where the Russians Are

Percent of U.S. State Population that is of Russian ancestry (2000 U.S. Census Data)

North Dakota is not normally the place one thinks of as having a large Russian emigre population. Yet, according to 2000 US Census Data recently released, fully 3.5% of that state's population, or 22,514 individuals, are of Russian extraction — the highest percentage in the nation.

In the second tier of states (2-2.9%) are those we might expect: New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. New York has the largest single Russian heritage population, with 460,261 persons (California is second, with 402,480).

Only Massachusetts fell into our third tier (1.6-1.9%), followed by a number of states in the 1.1-1.5% block: Alaska, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.

The tier of states with between 0.6% and 1% Russian populations included: Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The remaining states had a Russian population of 0.5% or less.

According to the U.S. Census, the total population of the US in 2000 was 280,783,416, of which 2,647,104 were individuals of Russian heritage, or 0.94%.