Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish population, totaling 2.6 million nationwide. Texas leads with 222,442 residents, followed by North Carolina (203,111) and California (184,988). This ranking examines how Scotch-Irish communities are distributed across the entire United States, highlighting regional patterns, cultural concentrations, and state-level differences.

Top 5 states with the largest Scotch-Irish population in United States

View All
  • 1
    Texas
    Scotch-Irish population in Texas is 222,442
    0.75% of Texas population is Scotch-Irish
  • 2
    North Carolina
    Scotch-Irish population in North Carolina is 203,111
    1.92% of North Carolina population is Scotch-Irish
  • 3
    California
    Scotch-Irish population in California is 184,988
    0.47% of California population is Scotch-Irish
  • 4
    Florida
    Scotch-Irish population in Florida is 144,345
    0.66% of Florida population is Scotch-Irish
  • 5
    Tennessee
    Scotch-Irish population in Tennessee is 126,213
    1.81% of Tennessee population is Scotch-Irish

U.S. States by Scotch-Irish Population : National Rankings

View Methodology
American Community Survey data [1] show Scotch-Irish populations present across states nationwide, with the largest counts in Texas, North Carolina, California, and Florida. 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 Scotch-Irish population count
Rank by Scotch-Irish Population
State
Scotch-Irish Population
% of Total State Population
% of Total United States Scotch-Irish Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Texas 222,442 0.75% 8.52%
2 North Carolina 203,111 1.92% 7.78%
3 California 184,988 0.47% 7.09%
4 Florida 144,345 0.66% 5.53%
5 Tennessee 126,213 1.81% 4.83%
6 Pennsylvania 119,213 0.92% 4.57%
7 Georgia 105,306 0.97% 4.03%
8 104,016 1.20% 3.98%
9 98,202 0.83% 3.76%
10 95,654 1.84% 3.66%
11 76,370 0.99% 2.93%
12 64,153 0.32% 2.46%
13 64,123 0.64% 2.46%
14 62,727 0.49% 2.40%
15 60,812 1.20% 2.33%
16 58,807 1.01% 2.25%
17 57,527 0.93% 2.20%
18 54,396 1.21% 2.08%
19 51,883 0.71% 1.99%
20 49,095 1.16% 1.88%
21 47,447 0.70% 1.82%
22 38,829 0.56% 1.49%
23 38,201 0.96% 1.46%
24 36,692 0.59% 1.41%
25 34,680 1.18% 1.33%
26 29,816 1.67% 1.14%
27 29,412 0.32% 1.13%
28 28,300 0.93% 1.08%
29 28,276 0.61% 1.08%
30 26,090 0.89% 1.00%
31 25,500 0.77% 0.98%
32 24,575 0.43% 0.94%
33 21,493 0.36% 0.82%
34 20,302 0.64% 0.78%
35 20,176 1.46% 0.77%
36 16,573 0.88% 0.63%
37 16,281 0.77% 0.62%
38 15,694 1.13% 0.60%
39 15,583 0.50% 0.60%
40 15,311 0.43% 0.59%
41 13,785 1.25% 0.53%
42 13,194 0.67% 0.51%
43 8,059 1.39% 0.31%
44 7,772 1.06% 0.30%
45 7,658 1.19% 0.29%
46 5,546 0.55% 0.21%
47 4,696 0.43% 0.18%
48 4,592 0.51% 0.18%
49 3,723 0.48% 0.14%
50 3,690 0.55% 0.14%
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 Scotch-Irish population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish alone, while others identify as Scotch-Irish along with another race (such as Scotch-Irish and German).
  • We’ve used the “Scotch-Irish alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Scotch-Irish population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish .
  2. % of Total United States Scotch-Irish Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish 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 Scotch-Irish populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

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