Population Study Details
Area’s Jewish Makeup
Eric Schucht | JE Staff
T he Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia on Feb. 11 released the
results of a study it commissioned on the socioeconomics, public
health and demographics of Jews living in Greater Philadelphia.

According to “Community Portrait: A 2019 Jewish Population
Study,” there are an estimated 351,200 Jews living in Philadelphia,
Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Chester counties. That marks a
66% increase from a previous study done in 2009 — sort of. Population
growth, along with a different mythology and a slightly broader defini-
tion of being Jewish, contributed to the sharp increase.

At a press conference at the Independence Visitor Center, Jewish
Federation Board Chair Susanna Lachs Adler spoke on how the study’s
results will affect local nonprofits, including the Jewish Federation itself.

“We now have the concrete data that will help us retool, rethink the
way we allocate resources, the way we raise money, the way we grant,
and the way we structure ourselves for the 2020 decade ahead of us and
give 21st-century philanthropic. We will use the feedback to help con-
tinue to build an inclusive model Jewish community, one that embraces
the growing number of interfaith families, and one that embraces the
growing number of Jews of color.”
The survey itself was revised compared to its predecessor a decade ago.

Westat, a Maryland-based research firm, mailed out survey ques-
tionnaires to 79,496 addresses. The mailing list was compiled from
addresses given by multiple Jewish organizations in addition to
addresses picked at random. This is the first study of a Jewish commu-
nity in the United States to use address-based sampling and differs from
the 2009 study, which was landline phone-based.

Thus, about 58% of the population increase is believed to be from
the change in survey method, while about 3% comes from population
growth and another 4% comes from the study’s broader definition of
what Jewish means.

The study defined a Jewish household as one containing at least one
adult who identifies as Jewish by religion, ethnicity, culture or heritage.

Unlike in 2009, it also asked if the household contained any adults who
had a Jewish parent or participated in Jewish activities as a child but do
not identify with any particular religion today. Researchers said that
definition is more inclusive and allows for a more accurate reflection of
the Greater Philadelphia Jewish community.

In all, 2,119 Jewish households responded to the survey in English
or Russian. In addition, 17 in-person focus groups were conducted
between Jan. 28 and July 16, 2019. The focus groups allowed researchers
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