Muslims Are Finding Success in American society

A 2022 poll says Muslims in the United States are more likely to have earned a college degree than others in the American public age 25 or older, with 46 percent of Muslims graduating college compared to 38 percent of people overall. (Photograph by Drazen Zigic / Shutterstock.com)

American Muslims are advancing in U.S. society and are more likely than other members of the population to open a business or work full time.

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) also found in a 2022 survey that American Muslims serve in the U.S. military at a rate that is slightly higher than the general public.

“This poll presents an updated demographic profile of American Muslims, diving into markers previously presented and new ones, including military service and jobs created, to further flesh out a profile of a growing and changing community,” ISPU, which tracks trends affecting American Muslims, said in the American Muslim Poll 2022: A Politics and Pandemic Status Report.

The report, issued in August 2022, is ISPU’s sixth surveying Muslims, as well as other religious groups and people not affiliated with a religion. It highlights Muslims’ contributions to the U.S. economy and academia.

IPSU says Muslims in the United States are more likely to have earned a college degree than others in the American public age 25 or older, with 46 percent of Muslims graduating college compared to 38 percent of people overall.

The survey also finds that 8 percent of American Muslims are self-employed or own their own business. Muslim business owners each hire an average of eight workers, supporting an estimated 1.37 million U.S. jobs, ISPU says.

Small businesses (those with fewer than 500 employees) are vital to the U.S. economy. America’s 32.5 million small businesses make up the majority of U.S. companies.

Michael Verchot, director of the Consulting and Business Development Center at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, told ShareAmerica in 2022 that Muslim small-business ownership is increasing as America’s Muslim population approaches 4 million.

Verchot cites New York City’s 96,000 Muslim-owned businesses and the state of Michigan’s 36,000 as barometers of U.S. Muslims’ growing entrepreneurship that serves both the domestic population and the world.

“It’s exciting to see the emergence of American Muslim-owned small businesses that are meeting the needs of customers and clients around the globe,” Verchot said.

A version of this article was previously published September 20, 2022.

Courtesy ShareAmerica

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