The 10 Largest Amish Communities

So we’re counting down the top 10 largest Amish communities today.

The 10th largest Amish community is in Allen County, Indiana.

There are approximately 3500 Amish living in Allen County, and 19 church districts. The Amish first came to Allen County in 1852. There is not a lot of Amish farming in the county and most of the Amish are employed in the construction trades.

The Allen County Amish have a higher standard of living than most communities and many live in brick homes. People love to build homes with brick here for some reason it’s really popular, so it gives the homes kind of a really distinct look that’s quite different from Amish in other communities.

The ninth largest Amish community is in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.

Have you ever seen a yellow buggy before? Now, if that sounds crazy, Well, if you go to Mifflin County, you, you’ll see yellow buggies and you actually see buggies in a couple of other colors too, black and also white. This community is in a large valley where the Amish are. The official name is Kishacoquillas Valley, but people call it Big Valley, just for short.

The Amish first came to Big Valley in 1791 from Lancaster, Pa. There are three groups called the Nebraska Amish, the Byler Amish, and the Renno Amish in the valley.

The Byler Amish have the yellow-top buggies. The Nebraska, named after their first bishop that came from Nebraska, have white-topped Buggies. The Renno or Peachy Amish have black-top buggies.

The Big Valley also has Mennonite groups and Amish-Mennonite groups like the Beachy which have automobiles and electricity, but have maintained a lot of their Amish traditions.

The eighth largest Amish settlement, Arthur Illinois.

This is a very nice community, with very flat land, and lots of corn. It is the largest settlement in Illinois. And number eight on the list. There are about 4500 Amish in Arthur.

When in Arthur, be sure to visit Yoder’s Kitchen. It is a wonderful Amish restaurant.

You will also want to visit Green Meadow Farm. It is an Amish goat farm and offers buggy rides, behind-the-scenes tours, and goat dairy products. The Shady Crest Farm market has hand-dipped ice cream, homemade fudge, meat, cheese, baked goods, and more.

The seventh largest community is Davis County, Indiana.

The Amish here are quite friendly and they speak with the southern accent here, and it’s very kind of disarming or unusual if you’re used to Amish from like Lancaster County and that very specific accent.

There are about 1400 old Order Amish in Davis County. They first came to Davis County in 1971.

There are over 90 Amish-owned businesses in Davis County. There are only about a dozen families making their full-time living from farming. The Amish discovered the land in Davis County is not very fertile, so they moved to businesses. You can check out their business directory HERE.

The sixth largest community is Nappanee, Indiana.

And if you’ve ever heard of Amish Acres, this community is known for that tourist attraction that was recently sold and taken over by some new ownership.

Nappanee has about 6500 Amish and 46 church districts. Many of the Amish here work RV factories in the area.

Coppes Commons was once the center of industrial life in Nappanee. In the 19th century, this complex turned out the finest kitchen cabinets around. Now it is the center of commerce for shopkeepers selling everything from quilts and Amish souvenirs at Country Home Shoppe, to Rocket Science ice cream. Just watching them concoct your creation will be a story you’ll relive when you get back home.

The fifth largest community is Adams County, Indiana.

There are about 8595 Amish in Adams County. This is another of the Swiss Amish communities. The first on this list, Allen County also belongs to this group. So the Swiss Amish are known for specific customs that are unique to them in this community. They only drive the open buggies, so you’re not gonna see the closed-top buggies in almost all the groups. There’s maybe a little bit of an exception there, but that’s the standard for the Swiss Amish. They speak a German dialect to Swiss-based German dialect that’s different from the majority of the Amish. They also have the practice of yodeling, in this community. So pretty unique and unusual compared to the other Amish communities.

The fourth largest Amish community is Geauga County, Ohio.

There are 19,240 Amish in Geauga County. Geauga has two different kinds of main groups there. One that’s more progressive and the other one that’s more conservative and traditional. You’ll see in this community lots of ice boxes or ice vending machines throughout the community because Amish sure rely on ice refrigeration. So that’s something different from a lot of the Amish who would use a gas or a liquid propane refrigerator.

The third largest Amish community is LaGrange County and Shipshewana, Indiana.

Now we’re getting into what you might think of as the big three Amish settlements. There are roughly 26,000 Amish in LaGrange County.

Many of the Amish work in RV factories, which a lot of people find unusual. It’s kind of funny to think of Amish building RVs, but it’s a very popular occupation for Amish here. Elkhart, LaGrange County is considered a pretty progressive Amish community. One interesting thing, the buggies here, I think these are some of the brightest buggies I’ve ever seen in my life. They’re very well lit up at night. Now, not all of them, but you know, strobe lights and flashers, and they take that aspect of road safety very seriously.

Finally, the second largest Amish community is Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Lancaster County has the second largest Amish community. It’s the most visited Amish community, probably the best-known Amish community, and the oldest Amish community. There are about 33,000 Amish in Lancaster County. There are over 25 different Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren church groups in Lancaster County, 

The Amish here drive gray top buggies.

You’ll know Lancaster Amish often by their last names cuz they’re very specific last names that are common to Lancaster County, like STTs Fuss, which would be the most common name lab. Zuck King, Real Fisher. Those are names you either see here generally or if you’re in another area. It’s a community that’s come from Lancaster Counties. So if you’re like in Indiana, there’s a couple communities that came from Lancaster, so you’ll see those last names there and that’s a definite clue that they are connected with, with Lancaster.

Beautiful area, picture, perfect farms, very historic area, and very popular as I mentioned, to visit Lancaster County. Also home to the mud sales, which happen in the, starting in the spring every year, where the volunteer fire companies where a lot of Amish actually volunteer have consignment benefit sales, which generate a lot of the, the money that is used to fund them through the year. A lot of people attend Amish and English and they’re called mud sales, not because they sell mud, but because in the spring the fields tend to be quite muddy. So that’s where they got their name. So there you have it, the largest Amish communities.

The largest Amish community is Holmes County, Ohio, and that also includes neighboring counties, Wayne County, Tuscarawas County, Coshocton County, and part of Stark County.

Ohio’s largest settlement is centered around Holmes County. There are 37,770 children and adults, the second largest in the world and the highest concentration of Amish in any US county; the Amish make up half the population of Holmes County.

And this is one of the most diverse, or arguably the most diverse Amish settlement. You’ve got everything from the kind of most quote-unquote progressive Amish, the New Order Amish that use tractors in the field all the way to the very conservative Schwartzentruber Amish who don’t have plumbing in the home. They don’t use the orange SMB safety triangle and have a very plain lifestyle compared to many of the others in the community.

This is my favorite Amish settlement to visit. It’s a beautiful area, and there are lots of little nice small towns in the area. Quite rural. About half the population is Amish. And of course, there are the very many different Amish groups that make it a very interesting place.