NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The United States reportedly has the largest Jewish population in the world, said a new American Jewish Year Book survey.
The survey, published by the American Jewish Committee and conducted by Professor Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami and Professor Arnold Dashefsky of the University of Connecticut, estimated that there are 6.4 million Jews in the Unites States, Ynetnews reported Tuesday.
The numbers are much higher than the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey that said there were 5.2 million Jews in the country.
Sheskin and Dashefsky did note that because population estimates are not an "exact science," the population changes shown may not have occurred in just the last couple years, but "it most likely occurred over a long period of time, but has only recently been substantiated."
The survey reports that about 2.2 percent of the American population is made up of Jews, with New York having the largest Jewish population at 1,618,000, followed by California with 1,194,000, Florida with 653,000, and New Jersey with 480,000.
