The first National Jewish Population Survey sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America (then the Council of Jewish Federations) was conducted in 1971 using a scientifically weighted national probability sample of American Jewish households combined with random interviews from lists provided by Jewish Federations in the US.
The survey resulted in a national estimate of 5,370,000 Jewish persons - and a total of 5.8 million people (Jews and non-Jews persons such as spouses, children not being raised as Jews, etc.) living in a household with a Jewish "member."
In future NJPS efforts, 1990 and 2000-01, the focus would be on "core Jews," the equivalent of the 5,370,000 estimate. In 1971, however, the 5.8 million people estimate was seen as comparable to previous estimates of the national Jewish population, such as those produced in the American Jewish Year Book for many years until just before the 1990 NJPS when the DataBank staff wrote the AJYB population article and clearly defined the Jewish population as Jews - while from earlier articles and studies, the Jewish population could have incl
An additional 50,000 Jews were estimated to be in non-residential, "institutional" settings.
Regionally, 64% lived in the East, 17% in the Central, 8% in the South, and 11% in the West.
Average household size for all persons in Jewish households was 2.98, while the average number of Jewish persons in Jewish households was 2.84.
REPORTS from 1971 NJPS are available for downloading, as is the American Jewish Year Book article on American Jewry by Sidney Goldstein summarizing data from the study.
Methodology report provides sampling details. See also the Interview cards used by in-house interviewers for the study.