Where Are America's Biggest Greek Communities? How Your City Ranks
Ask most people where are the most Greeks in the United States, and you'll hear Tarpon Springs or Astoria. So where is Greektown USA, really? The answer depends on how you measure it. Are you counting how many Greeks live somewhere, or what share of the town is Greek?
We looked at U.S. Census data and ranked the United States Greek cities and communities three ways. Each one tells a different story, and together they show just how far Greek America has spread.
Biggest Greek communities per capita (1,000+ Greek residents)
This ranking shows the places where Greeks make up the largest share of the population, among places with at least 1,000 Greek residents. That focuses on places with a sizable Greek community.
Rank | Community | Greek share |
1 | Tarpon Springs, FL | 5.8% |
2 | Melville, NY | 5.6% |
3 | Glenview, IL | 3.3% |
4 | Peabody, MA | 3.0% |
5 | Addison, IL | 2.9% |
6 | Park Ridge, IL | 2.9% |
7 | Manchester, NH | 2.8% |
8 | Arlington, MA | 2.7% |
9 | Orland Park, IL | 2.7% |
10 | Mount Prospect, IL | 2.0% |
Why Tarpon Springs, Florida?
Tarpon Springs was built by Greek sponge divers. In the early 1900s, divers from the Dodecanese islands, especially Kalymnos, Symi and Halki, settled on Florida's Gulf Coast and soon dominated the sponge industry. More than a century later, the town still has Greek bakeries, restaurants, and one of the largest Epiphany celebrations in the Western Hemisphere.
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Biggest Greek communities per capita (towns with 5,000+ residents)
This ranking also goes by share, but with a different rule: a place needs at least 5,000 total residents (everyone who lives there, not just Greeks). That opens the door to smaller towns with tight-knit Greek communities.
Rank | Community | Greek share |
1 | Campbell, OH | 10.5% |
2 | South Barrington, IL | 6.4% |
3 | Margate City, NJ | 6.4% |
4 | Harrington Park, NJ | 6.2% |
5 | Tarpon Springs, FL | 5.8% |
6 | Melville, NY | 5.6% |
7 | Murrells Inlet, SC | 5.6% |
8 | Broomall, PA | 5.4% |
9 | Lincolnwood, IL | 5.3% |
10 | Seneca, SC | 5.2% |
Why Campbell, Ohio?
Campbell's Greeks came for the steel mills about a century ago, most of them from the island of Kalymnos. When the mills declined, the community reinvented itself as a town of bridge painters. Many of the early immigrants had worked on ships back home, so climbing and rigging came naturally to them, and those are the core skills of industrial bridge painting. Today, around a dozen Greek-owned painting companies operate in the area, sending crews to paint bridges and towers across the country and beyond, including New York's Verrazano Bridge.
What does "per capita" mean?
"Per capita" means per person. When we rank communities per capita, we're asking: out of everyone who lives there, what share is Greek? We're not asking how many Greeks live there in total.
Here's an example:
New York City has about 60,000 Greek residents, more than anywhere else in the country. But the city has over 8 million people, so Greeks make up less than 1% of it.
Campbell, Ohio has only about 800 Greek residents. But the whole town has fewer than 8,000 people, so roughly 1 in 10 residents is Greek.
So New York City has the most Greeks, Tarpon Springs has the highest share among sizable Greek communities, and Campbell has the highest share of Greeks overall. All three are true. They're just answers to different questions.
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Biggest Greek communities in the U.S. (total population)
This ranking is the simplest: it counts how many Greek residents live in each area. No percentages.
It uses metro areas, which means a city plus its surrounding suburbs. "Boston" here means Greater Boston, including places like Peabody, Lowell and Arlington. "Tampa" includes Tarpon Springs. We used metro areas because most Greek Americans today live in the suburbs, not in city centers.
Rank | Metro area | Greek residents |
1 | New York City, NY | 151,247 |
2 | Chicago, IL | 81,613 |
3 | Boston, MA | 60,765 |
4 | Los Angeles, CA | 33,288 |
5 | Washington, DC | 33,094 |
6 | Philadelphia, PA | 30,276 |
7 | San Francisco, CA | 25,096 |
8 | Detroit, MI | 23,267 |
9 | Tampa, FL | 20,261 |
10 | Phoenix, AZ | 20,012 |
Why is Boston ahead of Los Angeles?
The city of Los Angeles alone has more Greeks than the city of Boston. But Greater Boston has far more Greeks in its suburbs, so it wins once you count the whole area.
Note: these figures come from 2021 Census data, the most recent metro-level figures available to us. The per capita rankings use 2020–2024 data.
Greek neighborhoods worth a shout-out
Our rankings only cover official cities and towns, so some of America's most famous Greek neighborhoods don't show up on their own. Their Greeks are counted inside their city's total instead. Neighborhood boundaries aren't official, and small areas can produce extreme numbers, so we don't rank them. But these places deserve a mention:
Astoria, Queens (New York City)
The best-known Greek neighborhood in America. Northern Astoria is about 11% Greek, the highest share of any neighborhood in New York City, according to a 2026 analysis by sociologist Grigoris Argeros. Greek bakeries, tavernas and churches still line its streets.
Parishes:
Whitestone and Bayside, Queens (New York City)
Northeast Queens is where many Astoria families moved over the years. Parts of Whitestone are among the most Greek neighborhoods in the country, and Greek is still spoken in many homes.
Parishes:
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church (Whitestone)
Saint Nicholas Shrine Greek Orthodox Church (Bayside/Flushing)
Roslindale, Boston
One of Greater Boston's Greek hubs, shaped by Greek families who settled after the World Wars and again in the 1960s and '70s. Greek is still spoken at home in more households here than in nearly any other U.S. neighborhood.
Greektown, Baltimore
A true Greek enclave in East Baltimore. It has one of the highest rates of Greek spoken at home anywhere in the country.
Greektown, Chicago
The heart of Greek Chicago, home to the National Hellenic Museum and packed with Greek restaurants. Most of Chicago's Greeks now live in the suburbs, but Greektown is still where the community comes together.
Common questions about the rankings
Tarpon Springs has about 1,500 Greek residents, one of the largest counts of any small city. Among places with a sizable Greek community, nobody beats it. But once smaller towns are allowed in, a few of them edge it out on share. It's still the most Greek of America's sizable Greek communities.
Why are the top spots in the 5,000+ ranking mostly small towns?
Because in a small town, it doesn't take many Greek families to make up a big share. Do the math on a town of exactly 5,000 people. To reach 5.2%, the share needed to crack the top 10, it only needs about 260 Greek residents. That's a few dozen families. A big city like Chicago would need more than 140,000 Greek residents to hit the same share.
Why the 5,000 minimum?
Without it, tiny villages of a few hundred people would take over the ranking. In a village of 500, just 50 Greek residents would make it 10% Greek. The minimum keeps the focus on real towns.
Why is Campbell missing from the 1,000+ ranking?
Campbell has about 800 Greek residents, just under the 1,000 cutoff. It has the highest share, but not enough Greeks in total to qualify.
Why are the shares lower in the 1,000+ ranking?
In bigger places, even a large Greek community becomes a smaller slice of the population. That's why Chicago suburbs like Glenview and Park Ridge rank high there: each has well over 1,000 Greek residents, in towns of 40,000 to 50,000 people.
About the data
All three rankings come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). Every year it asks a sample of Americans about their background, including their ancestry. "Greek" means anyone who reports Greek ancestry, alone or mixed with other backgrounds.
A few things worth knowing:
These are estimates. The survey reaches a sample of households, not everyone, so small-town numbers can be off by a point or two. Places close together in the rankings are basically tied.
Numbers change over time. You may have seen that Tarpon Springs is "over 10% Greek." That figure comes from the 2000 Census. Today it's about 6%, partly because the town has grown with many non-Greek newcomers.
Ancestry is self-reported. Each generation is a little less likely to list "Greek" on the form, even when the family is proudly Greek.
Greek roots? You may be eligible for Greek citizenship
More than a million Americans report Greek ancestry, and many of them don't realize their heritage can be more than a line on a Census form. If you have a Greek parent or grandparent, you may be eligible for Greek citizenship by descent. Both Greece and the United States allow dual citizenship, so you don't have to give up your U.S. passport.
Greek citizenship comes with real benefits:
A European Union passport. You can live, work and study in Greece and across the EU, with no visa needed.
A lasting link to your family's history. Your name is recorded in the Greek municipal registry, often in the same town your family came from.
A gift to your children. Citizenship can pass down to the next generation.
The process usually means tracking down family records, such as birth and marriage certificates, and linking them to your Greek ancestor's registration in Greece. It can take time, but for many families it's the most meaningful way to reconnect with where they came from.
The bottom line
Highest share among sizable Greek communities: Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Highest share of Greeks: Campbell, Ohio, where about 1 in 10 residents is Greek.
Most Greeks in total: Greater New York City, with over 150,000.
There's no single "Greektown USA" It depends on whether you're counting heads or looking at share. Either way, Greek America is spread far wider than most people think, from Ohio steel towns to Chicago suburbs to the Florida coast.
Wherever your family landed, your Greek story doesn't have to end there. Learn more about Greece, Greek communities around the world, and how to claim your Greek citizenship at GetGreece.
This article ws researched and written by GetGreece Staff.
