Jordanian Americans () are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

of Jordanian descent. In 2014, the American Community Survey reported that there were 80,120 Jordanian Americans in the United States.

History

Pre-1967

The history of the Jordanian immigration to the United States is relatively recent. The first identifiable wave of immigration from Jordan to the United States occurred after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1945). Those first Jordanians settled in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, (especially in the Near West and Southwest Sides sections),

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, and the Southwest and West Coast states (i.e.

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

). Over 5,000 Jordanians arrived to the United States in the 1950s. These early migrants were forced to work as immigrants because of poverty that Jordan suffered at the time, caused by the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, which took place in this small country. They were a group of hard workers that included businessmen and doctors, between others. Many men lived temporarily in the USA and returned with their families to Jordan after several years working or studying there. In those early years, people in the Jordanian East Bank and West Bank

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

could travel to the United States with Jordanian

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

s, creating the undefined category "Palestinian – Jordanian."

After 1967

In the mid 1960s, due to U.S. immigration laws and the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

of 1967 in Jordan, the number of Jordanians who emigrated to the United States exceeded the 11,000 people. At this time, the majority chose to settle in Western cities and in the southwest of the country, except the wealthy Jordanians who felt more comfortable in the suburbs of large cities. Then in the 1970s, a civil war broke out in Jordan, causing 27,535 Jordanians emigrated to the USA. In the 1980s, annually emigrated around 2,500 Jordanian to the USA. By then, the Jordanian community in the United States had grown at a rapid pace, and it already represented a large population. This was in large part related to the Arab-Israeli war in Jordan, as well as the

Black September Black September (), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was an armed conflict between Jordan, led by Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by chairman Yasser Arafat. The main phase of the fight ...

of 1971. Therefore, a substantial number of Jordanians who settled in the United States at this time were

war refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s. The total number of Jordanian immigrants from 1820 to 1984 was 56,720. This wave of Jordanian emigration was due to internal strife in his country, as well as economic issues. Salaries in the United States were higher than in Jordan, which incentivized workers to immigrate.

Demography

U.S cities

Currently, the

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, notably including

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The

Little Ramallah South Paterson is a neighborhood of Paterson, New Jersey, United States. The neighborhood holds a large Arab-American population with a growing number of immigrants from the Middle East. The diverse neighborhood, with significant Turkish, Arab ...

community of

South Paterson South Paterson is a neighborhood of Paterson, New Jersey, United States. The neighborhood holds a large Arab-American population with a growing number of immigrants from the Middle East. The diverse neighborhood, with significant Turkish, Arab ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

is home to a rapidly growing Jordanian immigrant population.

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

has a sizeable Jordanian population. The Jordanian American community in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

held a candlelight vigil after the death of

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was traditionally considered a 40th-generati ...

also maintains, even today, a large Jordanian population. In the time period between

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the 1980s, most Jordanians who emigrate to the USA were men whose ages ranged from 20 and 39 and they married people. An important part of them were university graduates (30%), and worked in professional positions (40%). However, some immigrants lived only temporarily in the USA. Most Jordanians emigrate to the USA looking for better wages than they get in Jordan. One difference of Jordanians from other

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

immigrants is that they often bring their families to the US when they get a job there. The cohesion of their communities has hindered the Americanization of Jordanians. Most of Jordanians live in neighborhoods formed by people from their country. However, Jordanians who are fluent in English have greater interaction with the majority population. Their relationship with the rest of the population is reinforced when they have a good level of education and good jobs. Also, immigrants from urban areas of Jordan have adapted more quickly in the US than those from rural areas. As with other immigrant groups, children raised in the United States integrate into American society more quickly than migrant adults. Jordanians generally speak

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, but many also speak English.

Employment and Economic traditions

Most of Jordanian Americans are professors/teachers, scientists, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs. It is often men who will work outside the home, similar to the traditions in Jordan and many other Middle Eastern Countries. Many Jordanians will emigrate to the United States to study at university, and some of them are financially helped by the government of Jordan.

Cuisine

Many cities have Jordanian restaurants such as the Petra House in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Interactions with other ethnic groups

Most Jordanian Americans interact with other Arabs due to cultural and linguistic affinities.

Religion

The majority of Jordanian Americans are

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

, but many others are

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, Greek Orthodox Christians, and to a lesser extent,

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

Organizations

Jordanians have many organizations in the U.S., including the Jordanian American Associationjordanian american association. S.F.
and the Jordanian American Association of New York. The Jordanian American Association is based in South San Francisco, and its goal is to establish social activities for the Jordanian Americans of Northern California The Jordanian American Association of New York aims to relate to Jordanian residents in different parts of the city, and to help establish relationships between them and their families in Jordan.Jordanian American Association of New York