there are an estimated 1.9-2.0 million middle eastern americans according to the u.s. census, including both arab and non-arab americans, comprising 0.6% of the total u.s. population; however, the arab american institute estimates a population closer to 3.6 million. u.s. census population estimates are based on responses to the ancestry question on the census, which makes it difficult to accurately count middle eastern americans. though middle eastern american communities can be found in each of the 50 states, the majority live in just 10 states with nearly "one third of the total liv[ing] in california, new york, and michigan". more middle eastern americans live in california than any other state, with ethnic groups such as arabs, jews, persians, and armenians being a large percentage, but middle eastern americans represent the highest percentage of the population of michigan. in particular, dearborn, michigan has long been home to a high concentration of middle eastern americans.