US Census reveals important new information on Irish Americans

Higher median income, higher earnings and education than norm

By: JAMES O'SHEA | Published Monday, January 30, 2012, 7:38 AM | Updated Monday, January 30, 2012, 11:10 AM

Irish Americans continue to thrive, so the latest US census makes clear in their just released report.

The results were released as Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month once again  and the President will issue a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year.

Here are some interesting numbers:

Population Distribution - 34.7 million

Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2010. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.58 million). Irish was the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.

144,588 - Number of Irish-born naturalized U.S. residents in 2010.

39.2 years old - Median age of those who claim Irish ancestry is higher than U.S. residents as a whole (37.2 years).

13% - Percent of New York state residents who were of Irish ancestry in 2010. This compares with a rate of 11.2 percent for the nation as a whole.

Irish-Americans Today

33% - Percentage of people of Irish ancestry, 25 or older, who had a bachelor's degree or higher.
In addition, 92.5 percent of Irish-Americans in this age group had at least a high school diploma. For the nation as a whole, the corresponding rates were 28.2 percent and 85.6 percent, respectively.

$56,363 - Median income for households headed by an Irish-American, higher than the $50,046 for all households. In addition, 6.9 percent of households of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 11.3 percent for all Americans.

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41% - Percentage of employed civilian Irish-Americans 16 or older who worked in management, professional and related occupations.

Additionally, 26.3 percent worked in sales and office occupations; 15.7 percent in service occupations; 9.2 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations; and 7.8 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations.

70% - Percentage of householders of Irish ancestry who owned the home in which they live, with the remainder renting. For the nation as a whole, the homeownership rate was 65.4 percent.

Places to Spend the Day

7 - Number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland.

Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, Texas, were the most populous, with 1,779 and 1,910 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 231 residents and Shamrock, Okla., 101, and three Shamrock Townships in Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri had populations of 1,272, 413, and 40, respectively.

16 - Number of places in the United States that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin. The most populous of these places is Dublin, Calif., with a population of 46,036.

If you're still not into the spirit of St. Paddy's Day, then you might consider paying a visit to Emerald Isle, N.C., with 3,655 residents.

Other appropriate places in which to spend the day: the township of Irishtown, Ill., several places or townships named Clover (in South Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) and the township of Cloverleaf, Minn.

The Celebration - 26.4 billion and 2.3 billion

U.S. beef and cabbage production, respectively, in pounds, in 2010. Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day dish.

$24 million - Value of potted florist chrysanthemum sales at wholesale in 2010 for operations with $100,000 or more sales. Lime green chrysanthemums are often requested for St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

Sources: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service  , 2010 American Community Survey  ,

Ireland Central Statistics Office