American Muslims 2025: A Brief Profile

Demographics:

The 2020 United States Religion Census estimates that there are 4.5 million Muslims in the United States. However, surveys funded by the American Jewish Committee, say Muslims are less than three million in America. 

American Muslims are younger than all other communities: 26 percent of Muslims are between the ages of 18 and 24, compared with two percent to 12 percent of other groups surveyed.

Muslims are the country’s most ethnically diverse faith community. One-third of the American Muslim community is Black, one-third is of South Asian descent, one-quarter is of Arab descent, and the rest are from all over the world, including a growing Latino Muslim population. 

Forty-six percent of Muslims have a college degree or higher, compared with 38 percent of the general public.

A very significant part of the Muslim community in North America is in prison, since 30 percent of all incarcerated African Americans are Muslims who have accepted Islam in prison in the tradition of Malik Shahbaz (Malcom X). 

There are 5,896 self-identified Muslims currently serving in the military, according to the Department of Defense.

Most Muslims live in the major cosmopolitan areas of the U.S. The largest number are in New York State, followed by California, Illinois, and New Jersey.

Forty-two percent of the American Muslim population is born in the United States. The rest are first generation immigrants. 

Muslims' Income:

Twenty-two percent of Muslims earn $100,000 or more, as compared to 44 percent of Jewish Americans who earn $100,000 or more. However, Muslims are also found among those living in poverty, as 33 percent of American Muslims have a household income lower than $30,000.

There are, however, hundreds of Muslim millionaires in the United States, along with at least six billionaires. 

Muslim women in the U.S. are equal to Muslim men in the lower income bracket, and five percent behind Muslim men in the higher income bracket, as compared to Jewish women who are 38 percent behind Jewish men.

More Muslim Americans are self-employed than the general population. New York City has 96,000 Muslim-owned businesses. The state of Michigan has 36,000.

Professional Background Of Muslims:

Professionally, Muslims in America are versatile. However, engineering and information technology employ more than 10% of Muslims in America. Medicine-related fields engage eight percent of Muslims. Estimates put the number of American Muslim physicians at nearly 50,000, or five percent of the physician workforce.

Masjids, Islamic Centers And Schools

There are about 2,771 masjids in the US and about 300 Islamic schools serving more than 50,000 students. Seventy-six percent of American masjids offer weekend schools for children. There are eight Muslim seminaries and madrasas for higher education in America, as well as three colleges and one university run by Muslims. 

Masjids in the United States are often not just a place to pray - they are the center of Muslim lives in America participating in coalitions, civic engagement, and social services. It was the masjids who provided seed funding for Justice For All, the country’s only Muslim human rights organization.

Practice Of Islam:

Shahadah: There is a significant growth of Islam through new people accepting Islam in America. In Illinois, a growth of about 25% in the Muslim population was found to be due to conversion. However, about 41% of these new Muslims in Illinois and 61% in the state of New York leave Islam within a few years. 

Salat: In 2023, Gallup reported that 38 percent Muslims attend Friday prayers on an almost weekly basis as compared to 44 percent of Protestants and 67 of Mormons attending regular church services. However, according to an older but more detailed survey of Muslims, a far smaller number of Muslims offer Friday prayers: 9.8 percent of men and 5.3 percent of women attend weekly Friday prayers in America. 

Zakat: Muslim Americans gave $1.8 billion in Zakat funding to domestic and international causes in 2021.

Fasting: About 47% of all Muslims in the U.S. fast in the month of Ramadan. 

Muslims In Public Service: 

There are currently four Muslims serving in the US Congress. No Muslim has ever been appointed to a cabinet level position in the United States.

President Joe Biden did appoint the largest number of Muslims to a significant positions in his administration.

Muslims In Advocacy For The Ummah

• Muslim American advocacy has resulted in the United States forcing Serbia to stop its genocide of Bosnians in the 1990s. 
• It was a Muslim-led campaign in collaboration with the National Organization of Women (NOW) which resulted in rape being declared a war crime. 
• We were able to block Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from entering the US for ten years because of his role in the massacre of Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002. 

• Stopped the forced cremation of Sri Lankan Muslims during covid-19 pandemic
• Got the US government to officially declare the persecution of Rohingyas at the hands of Burma’s government a genocide
• Got the US to pass a law that all importers from China must certify that products are not contaminated with forced Uyghur labor
• Muslim advocacy resulted in $2.3 billion funding for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. 
• It was advocacy by Muslim Americans and our allies that we were able to move from only three Muslim Congresspersons calling for a ceasefire in Palestine to 24, and then to 90. Eventually, this helped push President Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire, airdrop meals in Gaza, and allocate $10 billion for humanitarian aid in Gaza. However, this did not stop President Biden from continuing to supply Israel with bombs and missiles to continue its genocide of Palestinians. 

Islamophobia Statistics: 

• Institutional bullying:
  • Post-9/11, FBI interviewed 700,000 Muslims
  • A law was passed for the indefinite detention of American citizens
  • 25% of all employment discrimination cases were filed by Muslims despite being only 1% of the population.
• Organizations that spread Islamophobia had budgets of $1.5 billion
• Bullying children: More than 50% of all respondents reported feeling unsafe, unwelcome, or uncomfortable at school because of their Muslim identity. 
• Media portrayal of Muslims continues to be mostly negative. 

Possible Future Challenges

• Islamophobic Government Administration: Islamophobia is likely to rise during the administration of Donald Trump. President-elect Trump is assembling the most anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian team of established Islamophobes in American history. 
• Both Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador are well-known proponents of deporting students advocating for Palestine.
• FBI head Kash Patel, National Security Chief Tulsi Gabbard, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Representative Brian Mast, are all on record for their anti-Muslim statements.
• It is likely that Muslim organizations and institutions will face more scrutiny and surveillance by the government. 
• Students supporting Palestine will face more persecution.
• Poverty will rise. In view of the possible detention and eventual deportation of millions of undocumented workers, massive tax cuts, deregulations, and a rollback of the safety net, poverty and hunger is bound to rise in the United States. The US already has at least 38 million Americans living at or below the poverty line.