How Irish Is Philadelphia? Not Very Irish, Census Data Shows

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — St. Patrick's Day is nearly here.

And around this time every year, Americans embrace all things Irish.

But claiming Irish ancestry is often done erroneously.

Census data shows Philadelphia's population with Irish ancestry is more than 10 percent.

According to the Census Bureau, ancestry refers to a person’s ethnic origin or descent, "roots," or heritage, or the place of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States.

According to Census data, Philadelphia is 10.1 percent Irish.

Data shows roughly an Irish population of about 160,283 in Philadelphia.

Nearby, Bucks County's Irish ancestry percentage is 23.9, Chester County 21.2, and Montgomery County 20.3.

Delaware County has the state's second-largest share of Irish heritage, with 24 percent.

Can you guess the county with the highest Irish population?

We're going to add a few lines here to keep you guessing.

But many Pennsylvanians know this city's Irish population is quite high, giving its county the No. 1 spot for Irish ancestry.

In Lackawanna County, the Irish population is 25.2 percent, largely due to Scranton's Irish contingency.

Previous Census data showed Scranton itself has a 26.5 percent Irish population.

Overall, Pennsylvania is home to about 1.9 million Irish people with Irish ancestry, about 15.5 percent of the total population.