Jews vs. Episcopalians, Part V: We've seen thus far that these two groups are similar in several ways (expect for income, where Jews make more). Let's finish up with a look at religious and political participation. Jews are one of these least religious groups in the country, at least as indicated by frequency of attendance at religious services. The average Jew goes perhaps a few times a year, whereas Episcopalians (Es) average about once a month. The numbers even out, however, when we broaden the question to membership in some kind of organization related to religion: 37% of Jews and 35% of Es says yes to this question.

As for politics, Jews are, not surprisingly, more liberal: only 22% voted for Bush in 2000, while 53% of Es did. Thirty-eight percent of Jews have given money to a political cause or candidate: for Es, the number is 33%. Fifty-six percent of Es have lobbied local politicians on some issue: 52% of Jews have. For higher-level officials, it's 52% of Jews and 50% of Es.

So along the dimensions I've looked at, these groups look quite similar, except that Jews have higher incomes, yet vote Democrat. The higher incomes might be explained simply by the fact that the average Jew lives in a city of 1.7 million people, while Es live in cities averaging only 450,000. (Both are concentrated on the east and west coasts). The two groups work similar hours: 41.2 hours/week for Jews and 42.4 for Es (this includes part-time workers).