Community Corner

Census Report Quantifies International Roots of Lower Merion, Narberth Residents

Local neighborhoods are diverse in their diversity.

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Statistical reports on Lower Merion and Narberth residents' international roots—such as birthplaces, ancestries and languages spoken at home—are among the vast array of data in the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey.

The five-year survey, produced by sample interviews from 2007 through 2011, was released last week.

Among the notable results:

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  • About 12 percent of Lower Merion residents and 7 percent of Narberth residents were born outside the United States.
  • Within Lower Merion's neighborhoods, the foreign-born percentage ranges from 8 percent in Haverford to 15 percent in Wynnewood/Penn Wynne.
  • In both Bryn Mawr/Rosemont and Wynnewood/Penn Wynne, languages besides English are spoken in about 17 percent of households. The opposite end of that spectrum, locally, is 9 percent in Bala Cynwyd/Belmont Hills.
  • Irish is the most common ancestry reported by residents in Narberth and in Lower Merion, though not in every neighborhood there. In Montgomery County as a whole, and throughout Pennsylvania, German is the most common ancestry, according to the Census Bureau.
Place % born outside U.S. % non-English language at home

Most common ancestry

Pennsylvania 6 10 German Montgomery County 9 12 German Chester County 8 12 Irish Delaware County 9 11 Irish Philadelphia 12 21 Irish Lower Merion 12 14 Irish Narberth 7 13 Irish Ardmore 12 12 Irish Bala Cynwyd — Belmont Hills 11 9 Russian Bryn Mawr — Rosemont 12 17 Irish Gladwyne 10 16 English Haverford 8 11 Irish Merion Station 9 13 Irish Narberth — Penn Valley 9 11 Irish Wynnewood — Penn Wynne 15 17 Russian

The following are ancestries reported in more than 10 percent of residents' responses:

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  • LOWER MERION: 15% Irish, 14% German, 10% English, 10% Russian
  • NARBERTH: 34% Irish, 25% Italian, 16% German
  • Ardmore: 25% Irish, 22% German, 15% Italian, 12% English
  • Bala Cynwyd/Belmont Hills: 15% Russian, 13% German, 13% Irish
  • Bryn Mawr/Rosemont: 22% Irish, 14% German, 11% English, 10% Italian
  • Gladwyne: 18% English, 17% German, 11% Irish
  • Haverford: 24% Irish, 18% German, 14% English
  • Merion Station: 16% Irish, 13% German, 11% Russian
  • Narberth/Penn Valley: 21% Irish, 18% Italian, 15% German, 12% Russian
  • Wynnewood/Penn Wynne: 12% Russian, 12% Irish, 11% German

Which of these numbers surprise you? Tell us in the comments section below.

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