History of the Jews in Greater Cleveland

The Jewish community of the Greater Cleveland area comprises a significant ethnoreligious population of the U.S. State of Ohio. It began in 1839 by immigrants from Bavaria and its size has significantly grown in the decades since then. In the early 21st century, Ohio's census data reported over 150,000 Jews, with the Cleveland area being home to more than 50% of this population.^[1] As of 2018, Greater Cleveland is the 23rd largest Jewish community in the United States.^[2] As of 2023, the Cleveland Jewish Community is estimated to be about 100,000 people.

In 2012, the Jewish Population in Greater Cleveland was estimated at 80,800.^[3] Over the next few years, Cleveland saw a rapid influx of Jews particularly within the city’s Orthodox Jewish and corporate business communities. Cleveland’s sudden emergence as a business city in the 2010’s prompted thousands of young Jewish professionals to move all over the city, including the west side to areas such as Lakewood and Tremont. Cleveland’s Orthodox community saw rapid growth based on an influx of Jews fleeing worsening conditions and rising antisemitism in New York, New Jersey, as well as from Europe. Lower real estate prices than in East Coast major cities also attracted many Jewish people to Cleveland.