German immigration into the United States

German Americans
Deutschamerikaner

German Americans % of population by state
Total population
44,754,050 14.4% of the U.S. population (2016)
Regions with significant populations
Nationwide, though less common in New England and the Deep South. Plurality in New York, Pennsylvania,Colorado and the Midwest.
Languages
English (American English dialects, Pennsylvania Dutch English) German (American German dialects, Standard German, Bavarian German, Swabian German, Colognian German, Alsatian German, Bernese German, Hutterite German, Pennsylvania German, Plautdietsch, Texas German)
Religion
Christian 51% Protestant, significantly Lutheran, Reformed and Anabaptist but also multiple other branches 26% Roman Catholic 1% Jewish 16% other
Related ethnic groups
Germans Austrians Austrian Americans Swiss Americans Dutch Americans Danish Americans Swedish Americans Norwegian Americans Pennsylvania Dutch German Canadians other German diaspora

English (American English dialects, Pennsylvania Dutch English)

German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 44 million in 2016, German Americans are the largest of the ancestry groups reported by the US Census Bureau in its American Community Survey. The group accounts for about one third of the total ethnic German population in the world.

None of the German states had American colonies. In the 1670s, the first significant groups of German immigrants arrived in the British colonies, settling primarily in Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia. Immigration continued in very large numbers during the 19th century, with eight million arrivals from Germany. Between 1820 and 1870 over seven and a half million German immigrants came to the United States—more than doubling the entire population of the country. By 2010, their population grew to 49.8 million immigrants, reflecting a jump of 6 million people since 2000.

There is a "German belt" that extends all the way across the United States, from eastern Pennsylvania to the Oregon coast. Pennsylvania has the largest population of German-Americans in the U.S. and is home to one of the group's original settlements, Germantown (Philadelphia), founded in 1683 and the birthplace of the American antislavery movement in 1688, as well as the revolutionary Battle of Germantown. The state of Pennsylvania has 3.5 million people of German ancestry.