2024: Amish Population Passes 400,000 (Five Interesting Facts)
The latest Amish population estimates are up at the Young Center’s Amish Studies website.
There are several interesting bits here, starting with the total estimated population of the Amish (United States + Canada + Bolivia) reaching 401,005 people. The total number of Amish settlements is up to 675.
Here are five more interesting facts in the latest data:
1. The Amish have left Manitoba
Manitoba no longer has an Amish presence. Reader Urs alerted us to this recently, writing: “the Amish that had lived in the Stuartburn area of Manitoba have sold and moved to Minnesota, the folks that bought there places are Orthodox Mennonites.”
Amish had originally settled in Manitoba in 2017. The loss of Manitoba drops Canada to three provinces with an Amish presence – Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick.
2. Vermont adds a second Amish community
Vermont has gained a second Amish community. These are apparently Amish with Lancaster County roots – by way of St. Mary’s County, Maryland.
The St. Mary’s County Amish community is more conservative than its parent Lancaster County settlement. Amish from St. Mary’s County also founded Virginia’s largest Amish settlement, in Charlotte County.Â
Vermont’s first Amish community was settled in 2015 in Orleans County, in the “Northeast Kingdom”. This new Vermont community is apparently not too far away, located in the same county.
Back in 2018, there was talk of another group of Amish looking into establishing a second settlement in Vermont. No idea if this is that group, or a different one.
So Vermont has been on the “Amish radar” for some time now. Maybe with this second community, this state will start to gain momentum as a new Amish hot spot.
3. No new “Amish States” this year
No new states were added to the list this year. The most recent new Amish state was New Mexico, added in 2022. So the list of 18 states with no Amish remains unchanged.
I’m going to predict that the next “new” state settled by Amish will be one of the following three: North Dakota, New Hampshire, or Washington.
Two of those three (North Dakota and Washington) have had Amish communities in the past. Will my prediction work out? We may have to wait years to find out. Or, maybe just one year.
4. York County & Lancaster County now counted separately
In calculating the estimated sizes of the 12 largest settlements, the authors note that:
The apparent slight decrease in the Lancaster settlement’s population from 2023 to 2024 is the result of a new way of defining that settlement. In the past, the Young Center included the church districts in southeastern York County, Pennsylvania, as part of the Lancaster settlement. As this southeastern York community has developed more of its own identity, it is now listed as a separate settlement and is no longer included in the Lancaster total.
Lancaster County still leads as the largest Amish community, with an estimated population of 43,640 (Holmes County, Ohio is not far behind at 40,435).
Apparently, the Amish themselves have started making this distinction between the Amish living in York County* and those in the greater Lancaster County settlement.
They had been considered one community, but it lately has been listed in the Gemeinde brief (church newsletter) and Raber’s Almanac as a “separate entity”, so the compilers decided to follow suit in their tallies.
*There is also a second, younger York County Amish community at Glen Rock.
5. Growing (Smaller) Amish States
Among the Young Center’s figures is a chart showing the increase (or decrease) in number of settlements and church districts for each state.
Since 2015, these six states have seen their number of church districts at least double:
- Colorado (going from 5 districts in 2015 to 11 in 2024)
- Maine (going from 5 to 13)
- Montana (going from 4 to 15)
- Virginia (going from 8 to a whopping 27)
- West Virginia (going from 3 to 14)
- Wyoming (going from 1 to 6)
These are all smaller-population Amish states (I left out states with just one or two districts – eg, Florida going from 1 to 2).
One other important note: this is an imperfect gauge of growth because some of these might just be new settlements that have only a handful of households, yet still counting as a church district in the list.
That noted, this gives you some general sense of trends – of where the “settlement momentum” is in states with lower Amish populations.
For more, see:
- You can also find the latest county and state community listings here. That’s a very handy list showing all 675 Amish communities, their estimated populations, number of church districts, and date founded.
- Check out the Amish state guide for greater detail on each state’s Amish population and largest/most prominent communities, history, tips for visitors, and more.
Thanks to Steven Nolt and the Young Center for making this available, and especially to the compilers (Edsel Burdge Jr. of the Young Center, along with Joe Donnermeyer (whose posts we appreciate here), and with assistance from Adam Hershberger of the Ohio Amish Library) for all the hard work in putting this together!
Surpassed expectations!
After 2023’s growth of 10,000, I was surprised to see such a huge growth this year. That makes an average of 13,000 souls increased over these past two years
P s. You were hot off the press Erik! I’d only just seen the updated number for 2024 and your article was already done!
Well I may have gotten a hot tip that it was out already 🙂
Thanks for sharing this; I had not yet seen it and always look forward to the most recent statistics. Each year when I am a volunteer tour guide at Menno-Hof Amish Mennonite Information Center in Shipshewana, the current listing of the Young Center of Amish Population Statistics is always helpful. Many visitors have questions such as “I live in such-and-such a state. Are there any Amish settlements near me?”, and I can turn right away to this listing to answer their questions. I realize that the listing of the settlements is a little fluid with new settlements beginning each year, and other settlements disbanding. I always appreciate the enormous amount of work done by the compilers in updating these statistics each year.
I do have a question — it seems in the listing “Population by State and County” the numerical figures for the Elkhart/LaGrange settlement and the Nappanee settlement are switched around, with Nappanee listing 231 districts/29,180 population and Elkhart/LaGrange listing only 53 districts/6835 population.
I second what you write here Al. As for the numbers, I will pass that on to the YC, looks like a little error to clean up. Good eye!
greetings
Thank you for this information
the growing of Amish peoples is very important
i love so much Amish peoples
remain blessed
Good job......
Thanks Erik.
~ dp
ok i noticed in the area that i know in wisconsin arpin it used to be 2 districts and now 1 district ill be going back there in sept for a few weeks
Are there any Amish settlements in N.C.? and why not. We used to live in Ohio near a mid size settlement and loved going there to buy and interact with them. We had many friends.
Failed settlements
According to the Young Center in the past year 10 Amish settlements dissolved, comparing the 2023 list to the 2024 list I was only able to find 7 that are no longer listed. 1. Williams, Indiana. 2. Thompsonville, Iowa. 3. Bronson, Michigan. 4. Millington, Michigan. 5. Littlestown, Pennsylvania. 6. Tripp, South Dakota. 7. Vita, Manitoba. Another settlement caught my eye, Randolph, Mississippi, seems to be declining at a steady pace. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 290 in 2 church districts. It’s now at an estimated population of 130 in 1 church district.
Thanks for making the list. How about adding Stevensville, Montana? That settlement was on the 2023 list, but I don’t see it on the 2024 list.
Failed Settlements
8. Stevensville, Montana. Thanks Al for catching that!
I pray they start voting (conservative) soon or they will be looking for another country to live in and enjoy their religious freedome/exemptions.
Good Luck finding one!
Time to get out of the wagon and start helping to pull it!