German Population in United States by State : 2025 Ranking & Insights

According to U.S. Census estimates, all 50 states and the District of Columbia report a measurable German population, totaling 41.8 million nationwide. Pennsylvania leads with 2.8 million residents, followed by California (2.7 million) and Ohio (2.6 million). This ranking examines how German communities are distributed across the entire United States, highlighting regional patterns, cultural concentrations, and state-level differences.

Top 5 states with the largest German population in United States

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  • 1
    Pennsylvania
    German population in Pennsylvania is 2,822,540
    21.73% of Pennsylvania population is German
  • 2
    California
    German population in California is 2,686,525
    6.85% of California population is German
  • 3
    Ohio
    German population in Ohio is 2,641,479
    22.42% of Ohio population is German
  • 4
    Texas
    German population in Texas is 2,466,166
    8.32% of Texas population is German
  • 5
    Wisconsin
    German population in Wisconsin is 2,143,886
    36.39% of Wisconsin population is German

U.S. States by German Population : National Rankings

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show German populations present across states nationwide, with the largest counts in Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, and Texas. The table below provides additional context, including total population, population density, and demographic distributions based on current ACS data for all states included in this analysis*.
states in United States ranked by German population count
Rank by German Population
State
German Population
% of Total State Population
% of Total United States German Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Pennsylvania 2,822,540 21.73% 6.76%
2 California 2,686,525 6.85% 6.43%
3 Ohio 2,641,479 22.42% 6.32%
4 Texas 2,466,166 8.32% 5.90%
5 Wisconsin 2,143,886 36.39% 5.13%
6 Illinois 2,071,360 16.32% 4.96%
7 Florida 1,956,800 8.92% 4.68%
8 1,807,450 17.98% 4.33%
9 1,737,744 8.74% 4.16%
10 1,695,142 29.67% 4.06%
11 1,335,837 19.61% 3.20%
12 1,320,407 21.41% 3.16%
13 1,137,877 14.70% 2.72%
14 1,031,058 17.74% 2.47%
15 994,435 9.40% 2.38%
16 985,304 30.83% 2.36%
17 920,421 12.66% 2.20%
18 873,429 10.09% 2.09%
19 817,958 8.83% 1.96%
20 708,374 11.48% 1.70%
21 699,499 16.50% 1.67%
22 687,029 23.39% 1.64%
23 677,007 6.26% 1.62%
24 628,865 9.00% 1.51%
25 614,157 31.24% 1.47%
26 576,018 12.77% 1.38%
27 483,378 12.10% 1.16%
28 482,639 9.26% 1.16%
29 384,315 5.50% 0.92%
30 334,978 10.06% 0.80%
31 319,881 6.33% 0.77%
32 316,166 6.84% 0.76%
33 308,832 16.31% 0.74%
34 303,578 33.76% 0.73%
35 295,416 9.41% 0.71%
36 283,805 7.89% 0.68%
37 276,854 9.13% 0.66%
38 273,588 35.10% 0.65%
39 261,660 14.66% 0.63%
40 256,648 23.22% 0.61%
41 181,895 8.60% 0.44%
42 147,546 5.00% 0.35%
43 126,838 21.88% 0.30%
44 125,053 12.43% 0.30%
45 118,516 8.54% 0.28%
46 106,643 7.74% 0.26%
47 100,949 13.75% 0.24%
48 67,184 10.41% 0.16%
49 54,494 4.97% 0.13%
50 51,781 7.70% 0.12%
Need the complete table? Full rankings and the underlying data sets for California and other locations are available for purchase or license.

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks state in United States by their German population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines German population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having German ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as German alone, while others identify as German along with another race (such as German and German).
  • We’ve used the “German alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the German population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as German alone or in combination in state. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total State Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as German .
  2. % of Total United States German Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. German population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small German populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • State that don’t have any reported German population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where German populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.