Moise A. Khayrallah Center for
Lebanese Diaspora Studies
An Overview: Lebanese U.S. Population
Population Distribution
The most recent report by the US
Census Bureau notes that 493,084
individuals who live in the United
States identify their ancestry as
“Lebanese.” However, this number is
considered by many scholars to be
underreported. Moreover, it does not
take into account an estimated
additional 500,000 Americans who
descend from earlier Lebanese
immigrants to the US.*
The Lebanese-American community
is heavily concentrated in
metropolitan areas with significant
populations residing in (Michigan
(62499), California (57,282),
Massachusetts (34,464), Florida
(31,934), Texas (31,799), Ohio
(31,609), and New York (29,780).
< 500
1500 - 500
3,000 - 2,000
6,000 - 3,000
Most of the U.S. Lebanese
population is native-born.
77%
The majority of foreign-born Lebanese
are naturalized citizens
23%
Native
16,000 - 7,000
21,000
35,000 - 30,000
61,000 - 55,000
69%
Foreign
Lebanese
31%
...while most of the total foreign-born
population in the U.S. are non-
citizens.
41% 57%
The Lebanese population is above
average in education attainment when
compared to the total U.S. population.
93% 86%
Total U.S.
And in terms of jobs,
of 141
million employed U.S.
civilians over 16 years of age,
262,635 are employed Lebanese.
28% 18%
20% 11%
6%
5%
10%
12%
11%
High School
Graduate
Bachelor’s
Degree
Graduate
Degree
28%
49%
17%
Lebanese
7.9%
vs
Total U.S.
21%
of the Lebanese
population has a
PROPERTY VALUE
over $500,000
compared to
of the total U.S. population...
with fairly equal labor force
participation between genders.
74% 61%
71% 59%
Total U.S.
10%
...and not as many Lebanese families live
under the poverty line,
poverty
Lebanese
26%
Management, Business, Science, Art
Sales, Office
Service
Production, Transportation, Materials
Natural Resources, Construction, Maintenance
The Lebanese population has a
lower unemployment rate than
the national average,
6.7%
35%
7% 10%
and their median household income is also
above average.
$67,682
lebanesestudies.ncsu.edu
*2013 ACS 3-Year Estimate, US Census Bureau
$
$51,914