Research Note: Hutterite Population and Colonies, 2024, with a 15-Year Comparison of Colony Numbers

Hutterites are a communitarian Anabaptist group whose members live in collective, usually agriculturally based, “colonies” in the western United States and Canada. A 2024 Hutterite-published directory provides information for all 544 colonies then in existence and shows a total population of 58,392. The colony and population data are presented here both geographically and in terms of Hutterite affiliations. Using data on the number of colonies in 2009, a 15-year comparison reveals a 12.6% growth in colonies during that time, with variation among the affiliations. Declining Hutterite birthrates are among the factors that explain the lower rates of growth than found among some other Plain Anabaptist groups.