Greek American Market

     According to the report of the 2000 U.S. Census, 1,153,295 people of Greek heritage were then living in the United States. The State Department in 2005 estimated three million residents in the United States claimed Greek descent, with 365,435 Americans speaking Greek at home.
     The first significant Greek community to develop was in New Orleans during the 1850s. By 1866, the community was numerous and prosperous enough to have a Greek consulate and the first Greek Orthodox church in the United States. By 1890, there were almost 15,000 Greeks living in the U.S.
     Immigration picked up in the 1890s, mostly because of economic opportunity in the U.S., displacement caused by the hardships of Ottoman rule, the Balkan Wars and World War I.
Greek immigration, in contrast with most other European immigration to the US, was at this time over 90% male. Italian and Irish immigration, by comparison, averaged 50% to 60% male. Many Greek immigrants expected to work and return to their homeland after earning capital and dowries for their families.
     Greeks also arrived in large numbers after 1945, fleeing the economic devastation caused by World War II and the Greek Civil War. From 1946 until 1982, approximately 211,000 Greeks immigrated to the United States.
     After the 1981 admission of Greece to the European Union, numbers fell to an average of less than 2,000 annually. In recent years, Greek immigration to the United States has been minimal; in fact, net migration has been towards Greece.
     The vast majority of Greeks are Eastern Orthodox Christians, belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church. The Greek population is composed of a 97% of Christian Orthodox. The rest of the population is Muslim, Roman Catholic and Jewish. Greece and Russia are the only countries to have such a great proportion of people that belong to the Orthodox Church.
     Greeks remain on the whole an extroverted and friendly people, known for their hospitality and somewhat relaxed approach to the demands and pressures of daily life.

• The Greek American population is estimated at approximately 1,153,295 people.
• The major areas of concentration are NY, CA, IL, FL, MA, PA, NJ, OH and MI.
• The main cities of residence are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia.
• Greek Americans have an annual median HH income of $52,316.
• 25 percent of Greek Americans are married with children under the age of 18.