Special Report
The Most Unusual Ancestry in Each State
October 27, 2015 6:56 am
6. Colorado
> Location quotient of ancestry: 3.4
> Most unique ancestry: Spanish
> Percentage of state residents identifying as Spanish: 3.1%
> Share of U.S. Spanish population living in state: 5.7%
Colorado is one of four states in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions with a relatively high concentration of residents who claim Spanish heritage. The 141,843 state residents identifying as Spanish make up 3.1% of Colorado’s total population. Meanwhile, the roughly 2.5 million Americans who claim Spanish heritage make up less than 1% of the total national population. Though a much larger population of people with German and English heritage live in Colorado, proportionally, their share of the state’s total population lines up closer with the national share.
7. Connecticut
> Location quotient of ancestry: 5.5
> Most unique ancestry: Albanian
> Percentage of state residents identifying as Albanian: 0.3%
> Share of U.S. Albanian population living in state: 6.4%
Nearly 6.5% of the U.S. population who claim Albanian heritage lives in Connecticut. While residents with Albanian ancestry make up only 0.3% of the state’s total population, that amount is 5.5 times greater than the percentage of Americans with Albanian ancestry. People who claim heritage from the Balkan nation are also concentrated in Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, and Illinois.
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8. Delaware (Mike) done
> Location quotient of ancestry: 3.9
> Most unique ancestry: Pennsylvania German
> Percentage of state residents identifying as Pennsylvania German: 0.3%
> Share of U.S. Pennsylvania German population living in state: 1.1%
Delaware is located just to the south of Pennsylvania, which explains why it has such a high concentration of Pennsylvania Germans, also often referred to as Pennsylvania Dutch. This cultural group began immigrating to the United States from Germany in the late 17th century and settled mostly in Pennsylvania. Segments of the group would eventually resettle in other parts of the country, including neighboring Ohio and Delaware. Today, the share of Pennsylvania Germans in Delaware is four time the share of the group out of America’s total population.
9. Florida
> Location quotient of ancestry: 11.4
> Most unique ancestry: Bahamian
> Percentage of state residents identifying as Bahamian: 0.2%
> Share of U.S. Bahamian population living in state: 70.8%
Florida is home to nearly 71% of the 37,561 U.S. residents who identify as Bahamian. It is perhaps no surprise that the vast majority of residents with Bahamian ancestry end up in Florida as The Bahamas is located just off the southeastern coast of the state. Similarly, U.S. residents identifying as Cubans are particularly concentrated in Florida, which is the closest state to Cuba.
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10. Georgia
> Location quotient of ancestry: 4.3
> Most unique ancestry: Bhutanese
> Percentage of state residents identifying as Bhutanese: 0.1%
> Share of U.S. Bhutanese population living in state: 13.5%
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked country in South Asia. It is also the nation of origin for the ancestry of roughly 33,000 Americans. About 4,500 Americans who claim Bhutanese heritage live in Georgia, making it the most unique ancestry in the Peach State. While New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana all have relatively high concentrations of residents with Bhutanese ancestry, only in Georgia does the heritage has the highest share compared to its national share.
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