1 min read

Yes.

Maine has the highest percentage of residents claiming French ancestry of any state in the union, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

An estimated 161,928 Maine residents reported French ancestry in 2023, according to the survey. Given the state’s total population of about 1,377,400, that means 11.5% of Mainers indicated French roots.

New Hampshire ranked second, with 151,664 of its 1,387,834 residents, or about 10.7% of the state’s population, claiming French ancestry. Louisiana was third at 9.6%, followed by Vermont at 9%.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire had the highest share of residents claiming French Canadian ancestry at 106,575, or 7.5%. Vermont was second at 7.2%, followed by Maine at 6.3%.

Nationally, about 6.3 million Americans, or roughly 1.9% of the population, reported French ancestry. About 1.6 million claimed French Canadian roots, 91,700 indicated Cajun ancestry, and 62,700 reported Basque origins.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

The Maine Trust for Local News partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Sources

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.