Abstract

Italian Americans have experienced substantial population decline in New York City over the past thirty years. Data from the 2005 American Community Survey are compared to 2000 U.S. Census data to chart the most recent changes. The analysis includes among other variables, data on age profiles, educational attainment, and marital status. In addition some comparisons are made between Italian Americans and other European ethnic groups. A discussion of some traditional theoretical models of assimilation is included in the analysis.It appears to be the case that Italian Americans were slower to assimilate than other European ethnic groups. More recent data suggest that assimilation into mainstream middle class society is now occurring more rapidly than in the past.