Polish Americans
Polish Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Polish origin. Polish settlement in the United States started in the mid-19th century. The flow of people has fluctuated over time depending upon conditions in Poland and the United States. The Polish American population is concentrated around the Great Lakes and the Mid-Atlantic. Illinois, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are the states with the largest populations though none of them contain more than 15% of the Polish American population.
Poland has a long history of republicanism going back to the establishment of the first national legislature, the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland, in 1386. This legislature became bicameral in 1493. Poland and Lithuania formed a federated state in 1569 with the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this commonwealth of two nations there was a joint legislature called the General Sejm. An elective monarchy was started in 1572. Influenced by the Constitution of the United States, the commonwealth enacted a written constitution called the Constitution of 3 May 1791.
In addition to political liberty, Poland has a long tradition of religious liberty. Statutes for the toleration of specific religious groups date to the 13th century. The Compact of Warsaw, which was passed in 1573, codified religious tolerance for the nobility and burghers in the commonwealth. Polish Americans have been very active in religion, particularly Christianity and Judaism.
Polish Americans have demonstrated a strong interest in the sovereignty of Poland. During World War I, notable numbers of Polish Americans joined either the United States Armed Forces or the Blue Army with the goal of re-establishing an independent Poland. The Polish American Congress was established during World War II to advocate in the United States for a sovereign Poland. The congress lobbied successfully for the admission of Poland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999.
Polish Americans continue to produce and consume many of the foods from the old country. Festivals centered on food, religion, art, and patriotism are found in many locations throughout the United States. News media is produced in Polish and/or English. There are several museums as well.
Demographics
A small number of Poles emigrated to North America during the colonial period. The Jamestown Polish craftsmen, who arrived in the Virginia Colony as early as 1608, were the most well known settlers. Soon after the establishment of the United States, Poland lost its independence through a process known as the Partitions of Poland. Polish people and land were divided into zones ruled by the Kingdom of Prussia, the Hapsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire. There were several attempts to re-establish Polish sovereignty. One such attempt was the Greater Poland Uprising, which was part of the wave of uprisings in Europe known as the Revolutions of 1848. In 1854 some Poles from Prussia decided to leave for the United States where they established the first Polish settlement in Panna Maria, Texas. The movement of Poles to the United States surged to more than 2 million over the remainder of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th century as economic and cultural pressures in Prussia, Austria, and Russia increased. At the same time the United States enjoyed a period of economic growth and prosperity known as the Gilded Age. Many of these Poles were temporary economic migrants who worked for several years in the United States before returning home with their savings. This first wave of immigration ended with World War I and the subsequent establishment of the Second Polish Republic in 1918.After World War II the United States government passed the Displaced Persons Act in 1948 and the Refugee Relief Act in 1953. These laws allowed for the admission of war refugees into the United States. A U.S. Senate report estimated that there were 233,300 displaced persons of Polish origin living in other European countries. The American Committee for Resettlement of Polish Displaced Persons was created to facilitate the resettlement of the majority of these displaced persons.
The economic distress from the collapse of the Polish People's Republic in 1989 created another wave of Polish emigration to the United States.
2020 Census
The United States Census Bureau published an infographic in 2023 entitled Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census. This data source showed that the number of Americans in 2020 who cited their ethnic group as Polish was 2,686,362 alone and 8,599,601 alone or in any combination. The proportion of the former to the latter was 31.2%, thus indicating that a substantial majority were of mixed origin. The adjacent table shows the Polish American population going back to 1900.While the Polish American population is dispersed across the union, there are four states of note. Illinois has the largest population both for the alone and combination categories. The alone population of 352,882 equaled 13.1% of the total alone in the United States in 2020. The alone or in any combination figure of 857,583 was equivalent to 10.0% of the national total. Also of note in Illinois is the high concentration of the Polish American population in Cook County. 57.6% of the alone population in the state and 48.0% of the combination population were located in that county in 2020. Other counties with notable numbers were DuPage, Will, and Lake.
New York had the second largest Polish American population in the 2020 Census. The alone category summed to 274,580 while the combination category was 788,624. These figures equaled 10.2% and 9.2% of the national totals respectively. There are two nodes in the state. Erie County had the largest population with 58,949 alone and 147,201 in combination, making it the largest in the state and second largest in the nation. The other node consists of the five contiguous counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk.The third highest ranking state is Michigan. Its alone population of 256,398 comprised 9.5% of the national figure in 2020. The combination population of 752,515 was 8.8% of the national total. The population is concentrated in the three contiguous counties of Macomb, Wayne, and Oakland. These three counties were the third, fourth, and fifth largest in the United States respectively. Their populations for both the alone and combination categories were close.
Pennsylvania had the fourth highest ranking population in 2020. Its alone population was 206,264 and its combination total was 710,565. The Polish American population is very dispersed in the commonwealth. Allegheny County had 12.3% of the alone and 14.6% of the combination population in Pennsylvania, lower ratios for the leading county compared to the top three states. Other counties of note were Luzerne, Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery.
Other states with 5% of the total Polish American population in either category were Florida, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and California.
Polish Language
The United States Census Bureau began to count language use in its decennial census starting in 1890. In addition, the bureau conducts an annual service called the American Community Survey which began estimating language use in 2005. The most recent publication of language use from this survey is dated 2019. In that year 510,430 people over five years old reported Polish as the language spoken at home. The adjacent table gives the historical figures for Polish language use in the United States. The peak year for Polish language in the United States was 1920 when 1.08 million people reported it as their language spoken at home.At the state and local level several governments provide language service in Polish. The Illinois Department of Human Services as well as the Illinois Department of Employment Security offer services in the language. The City of Chicago provides language assistance in Polish. In 2022 New York expanded its language access policy for state government services. Polish is one of the languages covered by this law. Local Law 30 of 2017 in New York City designated Polish as one of ten languages guaranteed interpretation and translation services for interaction with the city government.
Communities
Illinois: ChicagoMaryland: Baltimore
Michigan: Detroit
Nebraska: Omaha
New York: Buffalo, New York City
Ohio: Cleveland, Toledo
Pennsylvania: Anthracite Coal Mining Region, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Texas: Central, South
Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Stevens Point
Religion
and Judaism are the most common religions among Polish Americans. However, a small group of Lipka Tatars, originating from the Białystok region, founded the Powers Street Mosque in Brooklyn in 1907.Christianity
The Central Archives of American Polonia is a research center at the Orchard Lake Schools. The archives compiles data about the history of Christianity among Polish Americans. Its General List of Polish Parishes counts 1.036 Roman Catholic parishes of a Polish character that were established over the history of the United States. A portion of these parishes are no longer active. The first parish, Immaculate Conception, was established in Panna Maria, Texas in 1854. The dioceses with the largest concentration are the Archdiocese of Chicago at 64, the Diocese of Buffalo at 50, the Diocese of Scranton at 49, and the Archdiocese of Detroit at 40. The Polish Roman Catholic Union of America was instrumental in establishing many churches in the dioceses of Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo. The monumental scale of some of these urban churches led to the creation of a new genre of architecture known as Polish cathedral style. Parishes were established in rural areas such as farming communities and mining towns as well. The General List of Polish Parishes indicates that 177 parishes were established in Pennsylvania, 122 in New York, 118 in Michigan, 112 in Wisconsin, and 99 in Illinois.File:The main and side altars of the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus.JPG|thumbnail|Inside view of St. Stanislaus Church in Slavic Village in Cleveland, Ohio|leftThe General List of Polish Parishes shows that the most common names for the parishes established were Polish saints such as St. Stanislaus, St. Casimir, St. Stanislaus Kostka, and St. Adalbert. Also common were Sacred Heart and St. Joseph. However, the most popular was St. Mary including as Our Lady of Czestochowa. Devotion to this form of St. Mary was confirmed by the opening of The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in 1955. This shrine in Pennsylvania proved so popular that a larger facility was built in 1966. Several statesmen and bishops have visited including Pope John Paul II.
The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit, also known as the Pauline Fathers and Brothers, operates the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. In addition, the monastic order serves several other parishes, primarily in New York. Another religious order for men present in the United States is the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, more commonly known as the Resurrectionists. As of 2025, the order is stationed at 21 parishes and universities, mostly in Illinois and California. There is a related order for women known as the Sisters of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. There are two orders of note in the Franciscan tradition as well. The Felician Sisters arrived in the United States in 1874. Their expansive ministry encompasses education, health care, and social services. The order founded and sponsors three institutions of higher education: Felician University, Madonna University, and Villa Maria College. The Order of Friars Minor Conventual, generally known as the Conventual Franciscan Friars, founded and operate the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Illinois. In addition, the order serves the Basilica of St. Josaphat, the third church designated a basilica in the United States.
File:Church of St Casimir 2020.jpg|thumb|upright|Church of St. Casimir in Saint Paul, Minnesota, built in 1904
In Michigan the Orchard Lake Schools were established in 1885. One of the schools was the SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary which trained foreign-born priests for ministry to Polish-speaking Catholics in the United States. The seminary operated from 1885 to 2022. The Archdiocese of Chicago offers Polish language services through its Polonia ministry. As of 2025 there are 37 parishes in the diocese which offer masses in the Polish language and 38 schools which offer religious education in Polish.
Customs around the liturgical year remain common among Polish Americans. Wigilia is practiced at Christmas Eve while swieconka is performed at churches on Holy Saturday.
Though the majority of Polish Americans remain loyal to the Catholic Church, a breakaway church called the Polish National Catholic Church was founded in 1897. At that time Polish parishioners in Scranton believed that church leadership, then dominated by Irish bishops and priests, was lacking in Polish representation. At the beginning of 2025 the church consisted of 108 parishes of which 27 are in Pennsylvania and 13 are in New York.