America’s 6.5 million Jews marked the beginning of the Festival of Lights last night with menorah candles, gifts, and plenty of latkes. But some cities were celebrating more than others. To determine America’s most Jewish cities, The Daily Beast measured three per-capita criteria: Jewish population, synagogues, and kosher restaurants across 110 major metropolitan areas across the U.S.
Gallery: America's 30 Most Jewish Cities
The Jewish population figures are based on metro area data from “Religious Congregation and Membership in the United States,” the most recent report on nationwide religious affiliation collected, in lockstep with the last Census, by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, and distributed by the Association of Religion Data Archives. This was weighted 60 percent. Synagogues were counted by factoring both the number in that same ASARB report and also the number listed on Citysearch.com. This was weighted 20 percent. The kosher eateries came courtesy of shamash.org. This too was weighted 20 percent.
With the nation’s Jewish capitals determined once and for all, there’s only one question left: Will Orrin Hatch perform his “ Eight Days of Hanukkah” at today’s White House Hanukkah party?
