Amish Fertility in the United States: Comparative Evidence from the American Community Survey and Amish Population Registries

Demographic Research

Stone, Lyman, Cory Anderson, and Stephanie Thiehoff. 2025

52(26):869-86.

Access at PubMed

Research Points
  • Amish respondents may be identifiable in the American Community Survey (ACS)—an annual federal survey to 3 million+ Americans—when we pull responses with a combination of Pennsylvania Dutch language, absence of household telephone, and farming variables
  • Anderson’s Cross-Sectional Amish Population & Environment Database (CAPED-2010s) and the ACS Amish-oriented responses produce consistent fertility statistics: total fertility rates just over six children, highest fertility ages 20-29, very low non-marital fertility
  • Cross-validation of separate large databases (ACS and CAPED-2010s) confirms reliability of both approaches for studying Amish populations
  • This methodological innovation enables future research connecting Amish demographic outcomes with social predictors through other ACS variables

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