Since the 1950s many Armenians from the Middle East (especially from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey) migrated to the United States as a result of political instability in the region.

[5] The persecution of Christian minorities under the Ottoman Empire and American missionary activities resulted in a small wave of Armenian migration to the United States in the 1830s from Cilicia and Western Armenia.

With the exception of Fresno, California, which had land suitable for farming, the earliest Armenian immigrants mostly settled in the northeastern industrial centers, such as New York City, Providence, Worcester, and Boston.

Immigrants were asked to indicate which state they were going to settle in; for Armenians, the most popular answers were New York (17,391), Massachusetts (14,192), Rhode Island (4,923), Illinois (3,313), California (2,564), New Jersey (2,115), Pennsylvania (2,002), and Michigan (1,371).

[35] Although the 1980 US Census put the number of Armenians living in Los Angeles at 52,400, of which 71.9% were foreign born: 14.7% in Iran, 14.3% in the USSR, 11.5% in Lebanon, 9.7% in Turkey, 11.7% in other Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, etc.

[50] According to Anny Bakalian, "country of birth and childhood socialization, generation, and even cohort effect are important variables in understanding the behavior and attitudes of people of Armenian descent".

According to the 2000 Census, the states with largest Armenian populations were California (204,631), Massachusetts (28,595), New York (24,460), New Jersey (17,094), Michigan (15,746), Florida (9,226), Pennsylvania (8,220), Illinois (7,958), Rhode Island (6,677), and Texas (4,941).

[82] Just eleven years later, the 2011 American Community Survey one-year estimates put the number of Armenians in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area 214,618, about 29% growth from 2000.

[84] Several districts of Los Angeles have high concentrations of Armenians, particularly in San Fernando Valley: North Hollywood, Van Nuys, and Encino.

[115] One of the ACAME's first projects (in 2003) was to build a monument dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide, located at the intersection of Cumberland Avenue and Franklin Arterial in Portland.

The conflict reached a crisis on 24 December 1933, when several members of ARF assassinated Archbishop Tourian during the Christmas Eve service in New York's Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church.

[138][142][145] After the World War II, Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan led the church through a second founding, which saw the framing of by-laws to govern the diocese, the creation of a nationwide youth organization.

[158] According to one scholar, the political clout of the Armenian community in the United States "countervails the powerful big-oil lobby in Washington that promotes Azeri interests".

The identification of Armenians with those in Erevan and Karabagh has been greatly facilitated by Armenia's membership in the United Nations and the regular reporting of its problems in the American press.

The Karabagh crisis, economic chaos, lack of basic amenities, and the threat of war fill all diasporan Armenians with an anxiety unknown before, because they know that their efforts may determine Armenia's fate.

[169][170][171] Between 19 and 20 September 2023, the Azerbaijani military launched a large-scale attack on the majority Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which led to a mass exodus of about 80% of the region's population.

In this event and several other protests around the same time, they called on US president Joe Biden to withdraw support and impose sanctions against Azerbaijan and provide humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.

[173][174] Armenians in the United States have attained success and prominence in diverse areas, including business, politics, entertainment, sciences, sports, and the arts.

[177] The metal band System of a Down is composed of four Armenian members of the diaspora: Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and John Dolmayan.

[180] Mike Conners (born Krekor Ohanian) is the actor who starred in the long-running TV series Mannix, for which he earned a Golden Globe award in 1970.

Prominent Armenian American writers include William Saroyan, Leon Surmelian, A. I. Bezzerides,[187] Michael Arlen, Marjorie Housepian Dobkin, and others.

Second generation Armenian American writers include Peter Balakian, Nancy Kricorian, Carol Edgarian, Michael J. Arlen, Arthur Nersesian, Micheline Aharonian Marcom, Hrag Vartanian, and others.

[188] Sculptor Haig Patigian, painter Hovsep Pushman, and most notably, Arshile Gorky (born Vosdanig Adoian) are among the best known American artists of Armenian origin.

Other notable figures include sculptor Reuben Nakian,[189] painters John Altoon, Edward Avedisian, Charles Garabedian, Ludwig Mactarian, and Arman Manookian.

In the field of the contemporary art and performance, some notable American artist of Armenian heritage include Nina Katchadourian, Eric Bogosian, Tabboo!

(aka Stephen Tashjian), Peter Sarkisian, Aram Jibilian, Linda Ganjian, Dahlia Elsayed, Emil Kazaz, Andrew Ohanesian, and others.

Khachig Tölölyan, born in Syria, was a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Wesleyan University and is considered a founder of the academic discipline of diaspora studies.

Biologist Ardem Patapoutian, an Armenian-American born in Lebanon, has won 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch" (jointly with David Julius) A number of Armenians have entered into politics.

Sebouh (Steve) Tashjian, a California Armenian originally from Jerusalem, served as Minister of Energy, while Lebanese-born Gerard Libaridian, a Boston-based historian, was President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's adviser.

Drastamat Kanayan (Dro), the Defense Minister of Armenia from 1918 to 1919, lived in America after World War II and was shortly arrested for collaborating with the Nazis.