Interesting findings?
- Orthodox congregations represent a full 40 percent of U.S. synagogues, followed by Reform with 26 percent and Conservative with 23 percent. Every other denomination or group representing synagogues – Reconstructionist, Sephardi, Traditional, Humanistic, Gay/Lesbian – accounts for 3 percent or less of synagogue affiliations, according to the 2001 census of synagogues.
- The 50 metropolitan areas with the largest Jewish populations contain 82 percent of all U.S. synagogues, a total of 3,075. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area alone accounts for one-third of the synagogues. Seven metropolitan areas – New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco – contain 58 percent of the synagogues.
- In the New York metropolitan area, relative to their national levels, Orthodox synagogues are over represented (57 percent), Conservative are in their proper proportion (24 percent), while Reform (14 percent) and Reconstructionist (1 percent) are underrepresented.
- Though less than 10 percent of American Jews are estimated to be Orthodox, Orthodox synagogues represent 40 percent of all U.S. synagogues.
- The highest synagogue density (the number of synagogues per 1,000 Jews) is found in medium-size communities such as Providence, Rhode Island; Albany, New York; Buffalo, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; and, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The relatively high ratio in these cities may "reflect the length of Jewish settlement, the more traditional Jews who tend to live there, and the priority given to institution-building" in these areas.
- The states with the highest synagogue density tend to be rural and have relatively small Jewish populations: South Dakota, Mississippi, Montana, and Arkansas. This may be a residual effect of earlier Jewish settlement.
- Reform synagogues are predominant in small communities and more rural areas such as Arkansas, Idaho, and Mississippi, where 90 percent or more of all synagogues are Reform.
- Several communities with substantial Jewish populations such as West Palm Beach and Phoenix have low synagogue density which possibly can be attributed to a time lag — the number of synagogues commencing operations has not kept pace with the recent growth in Jewish population in these areas.
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