Hinduism in the United States

Hinduism is a minority religion in the United States of America, ranking third-largest after Christianity and Irreligion, and equally ranking with Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, constituting 1% of the population.[4] The vast majority of American Hindus are immigrants mainly from India, some from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, and a minority from Bhutan, and Pakistan. There are also Hindus from the Caribbean (mainly Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, some from Suriname and Jamaica), Southeast Asia (mainly Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia (especially Bali and Java), Canada, Oceania (mainly Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand), Africa (mainly Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Réunion, and Seychelles), Europe (mainly United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and France), and the Middle East (mainly the Gulf countries), and other countries and their descendants. Additionally, the United States has number of converts to Hinduism. There are also about 900 ethnic Cham people from Vietnam, one of the few remaining non-Indic Hindus in the world, living in America, 55% of whom are Hindus.[5]

Quick facts: Total population, Regions with significant po... ▼

American Hindus

Ganesh Temple in Flushing, Queens, New York City, the oldest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere
Total population
3,338,214 (2020) [1] 1% of U.S. Population[2](2016 Public Religion Research Institute data) 1% of the U.S. Population (2015 Pew Research Center data)[3]
Regions with significant populations
California	483,000
New Jersey	278,600
New York	202,157
Pennsylvania	130,110
Illinois	128,119
Washington	78,879
Massachusetts	70,300
Religions
Hinduism
Languages
Liturgical languages Sanskrit Old Tamil (to some extent) Majority spoken languages English Hindi and its varieties Telugu Gujarati Bengali Tamil Punjabi Nepali Marathi Malayalam Kannada Sindhi Kashmiri Assamese Dogri Odia Tulu Angika Maithili Bhojpuri Magahi Newar Konkani Gondi Kurukh Kokborok Meitei Limbu Gurung Tamang Magar Rai Boro Santali Nagpuri Khandeshi Pashto Hindko Saraiki Rajasthani languages Pahari languages Bhil languages Tharu languages other South Asian languages Hinglish Caribbean English Caribbean Hindustani Fiji Hindi Mauritian Creole Dutch French Malay Balinese Tenggerese Cham Romani Spanish other languages
Related ethnic groups
American Sikhs American Buddhists American Jains

Hinduism by country
Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Western Sahara Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Asia Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor Georgia Hong Kong India Indonesia Bali Java Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Korea North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Southeast Asia Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Europe Albania Andorra Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
North America Belize Canada Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama United States
Caribbean Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Guadeloupe Haiti Jamaica Martinique Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean Madrasi Community
Oceania Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Caledonia New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
South America Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Full list
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While there were isolated sojourns by Hindus in the United States during the 19th century, Hindu presence in the United States was extremely limited until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.[6]

Hindu-Americans hold the highest levels of educational attainment among all religious communities in the United States. This is mostly due to strong US immigration policies that favor educated and highly skilled migrants.[7] Many concepts of Hinduism, such as meditation, karma, ayurveda, reincarnation, and yoga, have entered into mainstream American vernacular.[8] According to Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey of 2009, 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation, a core concept of Hinduism.[9][10] Furthermore, the Hindu values of vegetarianism and ahimsa are gaining in popularity. In September 2021, the State of New Jersey aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month. Om is a widely chanted mantra across the United States, particularly among millennials and those who practice yoga and subscribe to the New Age philosophy.