Data
Albanian Americans by state.
U.S. Census ACS counts plus the live count of NAR registrants per state, side by side. Citable. Updated as registrations come in.
Census 2024 total
~224,000
ACS 2024, all 50 states
Community estimate
~1,000,000
NAR registrants
1,453
States represented
35
The Census count (~224K) and the community estimate (~1M) differ for structural reasons going back over a century. Why these numbers undercount the real community →
Top states by Census count
Census ACS self-reported Albanian ancestry. NAR's "registered here" column updates in real time as people sign up.
New York
Bronx (Pelham Parkway), Staten Island, Brooklyn, W…
56,959
Michigan
Macomb / Oakland counties; largest Catholic-Malëso…
26,598
Massachusetts
Boston + Worcester; oldest Tosk-Orthodox community
21,625
New Jersey
NYC spillover + 1999 Kosovar Fort Dix resettlement
18,304
Florida
Tampa Bay (Clearwater/Dunedin), Jacksonville — fas…
17,470
Illinois
Chicagoland — early-1900s Tosk wave
15,370
Connecticut
Waterbury — historic Muslim community since 1919
10,825
Pennsylvania
Greater Philadelphia
10,430
Texas
Houston, Dallas — diversity-visa wave
5,275
Wisconsin
Milwaukee
5,308
California
Riverside Kosovar pocket from March ARB resettleme…
4,983
Ohio
Cleveland, Columbus
4,332
Census = U.S. Census ACS 2020/2024, self-reported Albanian ancestry. Excludes ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Çamëria who often check country-of-birth instead, and the 2nd-3rd-gen who frequently skip the ancestry write-in. Real per-state numbers run roughly 4-5× the Census figure — the same gap that puts the national count near a million against the recorded ~224,000.
The three biggest Albanian American communities
By Census count: New York, Michigan, and Massachusetts. Each has its own Albanian-American history — different waves, different regions of origin, different religious traditions, different industries.
New York · ~57,000
The largest Albanian American population in the United States, concentrated in the Bronx (Pelham Parkway, Morris Park), Staten Island, Brooklyn (Bay Ridge), and Westchester County (Yonkers). The community grew sharply after the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia: the Bronx and Westchester are home to the largest Kosovar-Albanian diaspora in the country, alongside Albanians from Albania proper and Montenegro. The Albanian American National Organization is headquartered in New York; Our Lady of Shkodra in Hartsdale and the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Staten Island anchor the religious community.
Michigan · ~27,000
The Detroit metropolitan area — particularly Macomb County (Sterling Heights, Warren, Shelby Township) and Oakland County (Troy, Bloomfield Hills) — holds the largest concentration of Catholic Malësor Albanians (from the northern Albanian and Kosovar highlands) in the United States. Earlier waves arrived in the late 19th and early 20th century to work in the Detroit auto industry; later waves came after 1990. The community supports multiple Albanian Catholic parishes including Our Lady of Albanians in Southfield. Michigan's Albanian American community is unusually entrepreneurial: the metro Detroit Albanian-owned business directory lists hundreds of restaurants, construction firms, real estate agencies, and import companies serving the broader Midwest.
Massachusetts · ~22,000
Boston and Worcester host the oldest continuously settled Albanian American community, dominantly Tosk and Orthodox Christian. Boston is the historical seat of the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America, founded by Bishop Fan Noli at St. George Cathedral in the early 1900s. The first Albanian-language newspaper in the United States, Kombi, was published in Boston in 1906; Dielli, founded in 1909, is still the longest-running Albanian American newspaper. Worcester's Albanian community dates to the late 19th century — many of the city's Tosk-Orthodox families trace back to the Korçë and Gjirokastër regions of southern Albania. The Vatra Federation of Albanians, founded in Boston in 1912, played a role in early 20th-century Albanian independence advocacy.
For reporters and policy staff
Citable. Yours.
Use these numbers in floor speeches, press releases, district memos, or policy briefs. Cite as: National Albanian Registry, albanianregistry.org/by-state, accessed [date]. For a custom data pull (specific congressional district, methodology questions, embargoed access to a state breakdown), email press@albanianregistry.org.
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