Viz Analysis: Ranks of Soviet descendants grew more than 50% over decade

More than 3,700 Americans in 97 counties described their ancestry as “Soviet” in the 2018-22 American Community Survey – an increase from the 2,435 self-described Soviets in the 2008-12 survey.

The largest percentage was found in Gulf County, Fla., where seven of the county’s 15,002 residents described their ancestry as Soviet. That’s 0.047 percent – probably not quite enough to qualify as a fifth, sixth, or even ninety-eighth column. Flagler County, Fla., ranked second, with 39 of its 117,515 residents (0.033 percent) claiming Soviet ancestry.

https://www.socialexplorer.com/tables/ACS2022_5yr/R13688344

Los Angeles, the epicenter of Communist witch hunts during the McCarthy era, lost the numerical race for Soviet ancestral supremacy (rather badly) to Kings County, N.Y. The Brooklyn borough had 551 people with avowed Soviet ancestry; the City of the Angels and home of Hollywood was a distant second, with only 283.

Lest we spark a new Red Scare, there are a few potential explanations for the slow (but steady!) creep of U.S. residents claiming Soviet ancestry. In reverse order of plausibility:

• Ever seen “The Americans?” There could have been more than a few sleeper cells who liked suburbia a little more than the Motherland, especially after the union imploded in 1991.

‍Odds: 1/10

• Lack of cooperation by people being surveyed. ACS responses aren’t really vetted, unless they provide totally outrageous answers. A response from a 110-year-old janitor making more than $250,000 will likely be “adjusted.” The Census Bureau collects information from about 3.5 million addresses annually; it’s not outside the realm of possibility to imagine that a few thousand just didn’t feel like going into their own dubious ancestry with a government agency.

Odds: 3/10

• The former Soviet Union was composed of 15 republics. The ACS offers ancestral categories for Russians, Ukrainians, and Armenians, but if your ancestors were from Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia – you might as well be of Soviet ancestry, especially if you can trace your ancestors to the 1917-91 era. After all, it’s a little easier to take pride in “Soviet” ancestry than the default “Other Groups.”

Odds: 8/10