The 2015 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study is what Brandeis University concerns itself with.
Of Jewish achievement in education:
Nine-in-ten (87%) Jewish adults in Greater Boston have earned at least a bachelor’s degree, including six-in-ten
(61%) with at least one post-graduate degree. Among Jews in the United States, over half have attained at least a bachelor’s degree (58%) and 28% have post-graduate degrees (Pew, 2013). In the US population overall, 29% of adults hold bachelor’s degrees and 10% hold advanced degrees.
Commensurate with their high levels of education, the Jews of Greater Boston work in fields requiring significant training, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields (19%); business and finance (17%); education (14%); and medicine and healthcare (13%). Substantial proportions also work in the legal system (10%) or social services (6%).
Of Jewish affluence in the greater Boston area:
The Greater Boston Jewish community is relatively affluent. Among those who responded to the question about income, three-in-five (59%) households have total income of $100,000 per year or greater,32 including one-in-four (24%) whose household income was $200,000 per year or greater. On the lower end of the spectrum, 14% indicate their household income is less than $50,000 per year, including 6% with household incomes less than $25,000 per year. Over onequarter (28%) of households did not provide income information.
The one Jewish subtopic I have been long fascinated with is how, whenever a Jew marries a non-Jew, in the majority of cases, they raise their children Jewish. (Think of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.)
Overall, 81% of children in Jewish households are being raised Jewish. Nearly all parents who are part of the Affiliated, Cultural, and Immersed engagement groups are raising their children Jewish in some way, as are the majority (79%) of parents in the Familial group. Very few (3%) children with parents who are Minimally Involved are being raised Jewish in any way.
Nearly all children of in-married parents are being raised exclusively Jewish, with 65% being raised Jewish by religion and 28% raised as secular or cultural Jews. Among children of intermarried parents, just over half (57%) are being raised exclusively Jewish, and another 12% are being raised Jewish and another religion. Only 10% are being raised in another religion. These rates have remained steady since 2005.
Why is that, you might ask?
You gotta read yourself some Kevin MacDonald.
