The population of the Amish has grown at extraordinary rates in the last century. The Amish population in 2018 was estimated to be 324,900, according to Elizabethtown College’s Amish Studies Center. Twenty years ago, the Amish population was 169,442, and twenty years prior to that, the population was 69,653. In 1901, the total Amish population in the United States was 6,300.

“They’re doubling their population about every 21 to 22 years, primarily because they produce large families and the vast majority of daughters and sons remain in the community as adults baptized into the faith, starting their own families and sustaining their religious beliefs and practices,” said Ohio State researcher Joseph Donnermeyer.

It is not possible to project the Amish population in the distant future with absolute certainty, owing to the inevitable power of change. However, population projections based on Amish growth rates sustained for over a century show the power of exponential growth.

The Amish have kept their growth rate for over 100 years, and little evidence shows this growth rate changing. If the Amish continue to grow at their current rate, then they will surpass the current United States population (327.2 million people) in 215 years, provided no other factors impact or change the current growth rate.