New figures from a study of Amish migration show that they continue to move west in search of cheaper farmland. The highest rates of growth over the past year were recorded in New York, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois.
The bulk of Amish still live in strongholds such as Pennsylvania. But with a growing population, more are settling outside Lancaster County. In the last couple years, Amish bishops established a third church district in York County, said Elizabethtown College professor Don Kraybill, the study’s director. In 2008, there were only two districts here.
Districts are self-governing areas with geographic boundaries such as roads and streams, and as the number of families grow, the district divides. About 25 to 40 households live in each district.
Estimating that each household has a minimum six residents, that would place the Amish count in York County at 450 to 720, mostly in southeastern York County.
The booming growth of the Amish population — an estimated 10 percent in just the last two years — is attributed to a high birth rate of five or more children per family and of the faith’s retention of young adults (85 percent remain in the fold).
Read more about the Amish from the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown.
