Austrian Americans

Austrian Americans are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. The states with the largest Austrian American populations are New York, California, Pennsylvania , Florida, New Jersey, and Ohio.
This may be an undercount since many German Americans, Czech Americans, Polish Americans, Slovak Americans, Slovenian Americans, Croatian Americans, and Ukrainian Americans, and other Americans with Central European ancestry can trace their roots from the Habsburg territories of Austria, the Austrian Empire, or Cisleithania in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, regions which were major sources of immigrants to the United States before World War I, and whose inhabitants often assimilated into larger immigrant and ethnic communities throughout the United States.

Migration history

Early migrations

Austrian migration to the U.S. probably started in 1734, when a group of 50 families from the city of Salzburg migrated to the newly founded Province of Georgia. Having a Protestant background, they migrated because of Catholic repression in their country.

World War II and post-war migrations

In the late 1930s, large numbers of Austrians migrated to the United States, most of whom were Jews fleeing the Nazi persecution that started with the annexation of Austria in 1938. By 1941, some 29,000 Jewish Austrians had emigrated to the United States. Most of them were doctors, lawyers, architects and artists, including composers, writers and stage and film directors). After WW II ended, some further 40,000 Austrians emigrated to the United States.

Present day

Since the 1960s, Austrian immigration has been very limited, owing to Austria's high levels of development and political freedom. According to the 1990 U.S. census, 948,558 people identified their origins in Austria. Most of the present-day immigrants who currently live in the United States who were born in Austria identify themselves as being of Austrian ancestry, but the percentage who identify themselves as being of German ancestry is larger than the one expected on the basis of the opinion polls in Austria. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 26,603 individuals living in the U.S. born in Austria who identified themselves as being of Austrian ancestry. By contrast, in the same year, there were 6,200 individuals living in the U.S. born in Austria who identified themselves as being of German ancestry. Most of the immigrants from South Tyrol in Italy to the United States identify themselves as being of German rather than Austrian ancestry. According to the Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 365 individuals living in the U.S. born in Italy who identified themselves as being of Austrian ancestry. By contrast, in the same year, there were 1,040 individuals living in the U.S. born in Italy who identified themselves as being of German ancestry.

Assimilation

Austrian immigrants adapted quickly to American society because the Austro-Hungarian Empire had also been a melting pot of many cultures and languages. On the other hand, despite the rejection that Austrians feel toward the behavior of the Germans, regarded by Austrians as less tolerants and cosmopolitans, they have suffered the same damages and discrimination that German immigrants have faced in the United States. They were considered by Americans to be the same because of their language and both world wars.

Religion

The emigration of other religious groups from Austria to the United States, especially the Jews from Vienna after 1938, has also contributed to strengthen religious variety in the United States. Isidor Bush emigrated from Vienna in 1849 and became a leading Jewish citizen of the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri through his business ventures, religious work, and political activities. His vineyards were famous and profitable.

Austrian-American communities in the United States

The U.S. communities with the highest percentage of self-professed Austrian Americans are:

	Percentage	Community	State
1	12.10%	Waterville	Wisconsin
2	10.60%	Coplay	Pennsylvania
3	9.20%	Durand	Wisconsin
4	5.20%	Rock Creek	Wisconsin
4	5.20%	Northampton	Pennsylvania
5	4.50%	Allen Township	Pennsylvania
6	4.40%	Drammen	Wisconsin
7	4.30%	Palenville	New York
8	4.20%	Great Neck Plaza	New York
8	4.20%	Upper Nazareth Township	Pennsylvania
8	4.20%	Schuylkill Township	Pennsylvania
9	4.10%	Noble Township	Indiana
10	4.00%	Highland Beach	Florida
10	4.00%	Mondovi	Wisconsin
11	3.90%	North Catasauqua	Pennsylvania
11	3.80%	Russell Gardens	New York
12	3.70%	Washington Township	Kansas
13	3.60%	Whitehall Township	Pennsylvania
13	3.60%	Arma	Kansas
13	3.60%	Tuscarawas	Ohio
14	3.30%	Hewlett Harbor	New York
14	3.30%	East Union Township	Pennsylvania
14	3.30%	Indian Hills	Colorado
15	3.20%	Ellis	Kansas
15	3.20%	Harbor Isle	New York

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Austria

The U.S. communities where born Austrians make up more than 1% of the total population are:

Hillside Lake, New York 1.4%
Redway, California 1.3%
Black Diamond, Florida 1.2%
Smallwood, New York 1.2%
Highland Beach, Florida 1.2%
Cordova, Maryland 1.2%
Keystone, Colorado 1.2%
North Lynbrook, New York 1.1%
Cedar Glen Lakes, New Jersey 1.1%
Center City, Minnesota 1.1%
Scotts Corners, New York 1.0%
Killington, Vermont 1.0%
Lexington, New York 1.0%
Tuxedo Park, New York 1.0%
Notable people

Entertainment

Woody Allen – actor, director, screenwriter, comedian, author, playwright, and musician
Gabrielle Anwar – actress
Bea Arthur, actress, comedienne, and singer
Adele Astaire – dancer, actress, sister of Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire – dancer, actor
Sean Astin – actor
Roseanne Barr, actress, comedian, writer, and producer
Roger Bart, actor and singer.
David Benioff, writer and producer.
Bibi Besch – actress
Theodore Bikel – actor, singer, musician
Peter Bogdanovich – director, writer, actor, producer, critic and film historian
Abigail Breslin, actress
Spencer Breslin, actor and songwriter.
Albert Brooks, actor, director, and screenwriter
Pauline Chalamet, American-French actress and producer
Timothée Hal Chalamet, French-American actor and film producer
Hans Conried – actor
Ricardo Cortez – silent film actor, of Austrian Jewish descent
Stanley Cortez – cinematographer
Bryan Cranston, actor.
Billy Crystal – actor, comedian, and filmmaker
Robert von Dassanowsky – academic, writer and film producer
Alden Ehrenreich, actor
Norman Fell, actor of film and television
Max Fleischer – animator
Richard Fleischer – director, son of Max Fleischer
Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American socialite and actress
Teri Garr – actress, comedian, dancer and voice artist
Jeff Goldblum – actor and musician
Alex Hafner – actor
Colin Hanks, actor and filmmaker.
Mark Harmon – actor
Kurt Kasznar – Austrian-born American actor
Larry King, author, radio host and television host
Stanley Kubrick – director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer
Hedy Lamarr – actress, inventor, and producer; from an Austrian Jewish family
Martin Landau, actor.
Elissa Landi – actress
Fritz Lang – director
Jennifer Jason Leigh, actress
Lotte Lenya – actress, singer and diseuse
Peter Lorre – actor
Joe Manganiello – actor, grandmother was of Austrian descent
Julianna Margulies, actress
Samantha Mathis – actress, daughter of Bibi Besch
T.J. Miller, stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
Zero Mostel, actor, comedian, and singer
Paul Muni – actor
Arthur Murray – dancer, entrepreneur
Suzanne Pleshette, actress
Natalie Portman – actress, born to a Jewish family, some of whom came from Austria
Otto Preminger – director
Carl Reiner, actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter
Leah Remini – actress, mother has Austrian Jewish descent
Don Rickles – actor and comedian, of Jewish descent
Tanya Roberts, actress
Eli Roth, film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor
Lionel Royce, actor of stage and screen
Fritzi Scheff – actress
Joseph Schildkraut – actor
Arnold Schwarzenegger – actor and 38th Governor of California
Patrick Schwarzenegger – actor, son of Arnold, brother of Katherine Schwarzenegger
Amanda Setton, actress.
Harry Shearer – actor
Lilia Skala – actress
Walter Slezak – actor
Howard Stern, broadcaster and media personality.
Eric Stonestreet – actor, original family name before World War I was Steingassner
Edgar G. Ulmer – director
Erich von Stroheim – director
Josef von Sternberg – director
Tessa Gräfin von Walderdorff – American socialite, writer, and actress who is a member of the Austrian noble family Walderdorff
Johnny Weissmuller, Johann Peter Weißmüller - actor
Billy Wilder – director, of Jewish descent
Shelley Winters – actress, of Jewish descent
Elijah Wood – actor
Ian Ziering, actor
Fred Zinnemann – director