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Hutterites (; ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: Hutterische Brüder), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century and have formed intentional communities.
The founder of the Hutterites, Jakob Hutter, "established the Hutterite colonies on the basis of the Schleitheim Confession, a classic Anabaptist statement of faith" of 1527. He formed the first communes in 1528 in Tyrole (present-day Italy). (1999). 9780791440025, SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791440025 Since the death of Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially those espousing a community of goods and nonresistance, have resulted in hundreds of years of diaspora in many countries. The Hutterites embarked on a series of migrations through central and eastern Europe. Nearly extinct by the 18th century, they migrated to Russian Empire in 1770 and about a hundred years later to North America. Over the course of 140 years, their population living in communities of goods recovered from about 400 to around 50,000 at present. Today, almost all Hutterites live in Western Canada and the upper Great Plains and central Washington and northern Oregon states.
Before Anabaptism proper was introduced to South Tyrol, Protestant ideas had been propagated in the region by men such as Hans Vischer, a former Dominican. Some of those who participated in conventicles where Protestant ideas were presented later became Anabaptists. As well, the population in general seemed to have a favorable attitude towards reform, be it Protestant or Anabaptist. Jörg Blaurock appears to have preached itinerantly in the Puster Valley region in 1527, which most likely was the first introduction of Anabaptist ideas in the area. Another visit through the area in 1529 reinforced these ideas, but he was captured and burned at the stake in Klausen on September 6, 1529.Werner O. Packull: Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, Baltimore, Maryland, 1995, pp. 181–185
Jakob Hutter was one of the early converts in South Tyrol and later became a leader among the Hutterites, who received their name from him. Hutter made several trips between Moravia and Tyrol—most of the Anabaptists in South Tyrol ended up emigrating to Moravia because of the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I. In November 1535, Hutter was captured near Klausen and taken to Innsbruck, where he was burned at the stake on February 25, 1536. By 1540 Anabaptism in South Tyrol was beginning to die out, largely because of the emigration to Moravia of the converts to escape incessant persecution.Werner O. Packull: Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, Baltimore, Maryland, 1995, p. 280
Therefore, Moravia, where Hubmaier had also found refuge,John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 13. was the land where the persecuted Anabaptist forerunners of the Hutterites fled to, originating mostly from different locations in what is today Southern Germany, Austria and South Tyrol.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 8. Under the leadership of Jakob Hutter in the years 1530 to 1535, they developed the communal form of living that distinguishes them from other Anabaptists, such as the Mennonites and the Amish.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, pp. 17–20. Hutterite communal living is based on the New Testament books of the Acts of the Apostles (chapters 2 (especially verse 44), 4, and 5) and 2 Corinthians.
A basic tenet of Hutterite groups has always been nonresistance, i.e., forbidding its members from taking part in military activities, taking orders from military persons, wearing a formal uniform (such as a soldier's or a police officer's) or paying taxes to be spent on war. This has led to expulsion from or persecution in the several lands in which they have lived.
In Moravia, the Hutterites flourished for several decades; the period between 1554 and 1565 was called "good" and the period between 1565 and 1592 was called "golden". During that time the Hutterites expanded to Upper Hungary, present-day Slovakia. In the time until 1622 some 100 settlements, called Bruderhof, developed in Moravia and Kingdom of Hungary, and the number of Hutterites reached twenty to thirty thousand.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 31.
In 1593 the Long Turkish War, which affected the Hutterites severely, broke out.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 61. During this war, in 1605, some 240 Hutterites were abducted by the Ottoman Turkish army and their Nogais allies and sold into Ottoman slavery.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 63.Johannes Waldner: Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder, Philadelphia, 1947, p. 203. It lasted until 1606; however, before the Hutterites could rebuild their resources, the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) broke out. It soon developed into a war about religion when in 1620 the mostly Protestant Bohemia and Moravia were invaded by the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II, a Catholic, who annihilated and plundered several Hutterite settlements. In 1621 the Bubonic plague followed the war and killed one third of the remaining Hutterites.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, pp. 63-65.
Renewed persecution followed the Habsburg takeover of the Czech lands in 1620 and in the end annihilated them there as an Anabaptist group. In 1622 the Hutterites were expelled from Moravia and fled to the Hutterite settlements in Hungary, where overcrowding caused severe hardship.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, pp. 65-67. Some Moravian Hutterites converted to Catholicism and retained a separate ethnic identity as the Habans (German: Habaner) until the 19th century (by the end of World War II, the Haban group had become essentially extinct).
In the second half of the 17th century, the Hutterite community was in decline. It had suffered from Ottoman Empire incursions during which the Bruderhof at Alvinc was burned down in 1661.John Horsch: The Hutterian Brethren 1528-1931. A Story of Martyrdom and Loyalty, Reprint MacMillan Colony, 1985, p. 75. Towards the end of the century, community of goods was abandoned, when exactly is not known. Johannes Waldner assumes in Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder that this happened in 1693 or 1694.Johannes Waldner: Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder, Volume 2, p. 223: ("In welchem Jahr aber die Gemeinschaft vergangen und aufgehebt worden, ... dz kann man nit anzeigen. weil man ... weder mündliche noch schriftliche Nachricht davon hat. ... Aus einigen Umständen ist zu schließen, dass es ungefähr Anno 1693 or 94 zum End damit sei gegangen.")
In 1756, a group of Crypto-Protestants from Carinthia who in 1755 were deported to Transylvania by the Habsburg monarchy, met the Hutterian Brethren at Alvinc. These Carinthian Protestants read the "account of the belief of the Hutterian Brethren" written by Peter Riedemann, which was given to them by the Brothers, and then decided to join the Hutterites.Johannes Waldner: Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder, Volume 2, pp. 273-274 This latter group revived the Hutterite religion, became dominant among the Hutterites and replaced the Tyrolean dialect of the old Hutterites by their Carinthian one, both being Southern Bavarian dialects. In 1762 community of goods was reestablished in Alvinc.
In Wallachia they encountered much hardship because of lawlessness and the war between Russia and Turkey (1768–1774). The Russians took Bucharest on November 17, 1769. The Hutterites then sought the advice of Russian army commander "Sämetin" (Генерал-майор Александр Гаврилович Замятин, General-Mayor Aleksandr Gavrilovitch Zamyatin) in Bucharest, who proposed that they emigrate to Russia where Count Pyotr Rumyantsev would provide them with land all they need for a new beginning.
When Count Pyotr Rumyantsev died in 1796, his two sons tried to reduce the status of the Hutterites from free peasants (Freibauern) to that of serfdom (Leibeigene). The Hutterites appealed to Tsar Paul I, who allowed them to settle on crown land in Radychiv, some 12 km (7 miles) from Vishenka, where they would have the same privileged status as the German Mennonite colonists from Prussia.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 100.
Around the year 1820 there was significant inner tension: a large faction of the brothers wanted to end the community of goods. The community then divided into two groups that lived as separate communities. The faction with individual ownership moved to the Mennonite Chortitza Colony for some time, but soon returned. After a fire destroyed most of the buildings at Radichev, the Hutterites gave up their community of goods.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, pp. 103-104.
Because the lands of the Hutterites at Radichev were not very productive, they petitioned to move to better lands. In 1842 they were allowed to relocate to Molotschna, a Mennonite colony, where they founded the village Hutterthal. When they moved, the total Hutterite population was 384 with 185 males and 199 females.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, pp. 104-105.
In 1852 a second village was founded, called Johannesruh and, by 1868, three more villages were founded: Kushchove (1856), Neu-Huttertal (1856), and Scheromet (1868). In Ukraine, the Hutterites enjoyed relative prosperity. When they lived among German-speaking Mennonites in Molotschna, they adopted the very efficient form of Mennonite agriculture that Johann Cornies had introduced.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, pp. 105-106.
In 1845, a small group of Hutterites made plans to renew the community of goods, but was told to wait until the government had approved their plans to buy separate land. A group led by the preacher George Waldner made another attempt but this soon failed. In 1859 Michael Waldner was able to reinstate community of goods at one end of Hutterdorf, thus becoming the founder of the Schmiedeleut. Dariusleut at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.
In 1860, Darius Walter founded another group with community of goods at the other end of Hutterdorf, thus creating the Dariusleut. Trials to establish a communal living in Johannisruh after 1864 did not succeed. It took until 1877, after the Hutterites had already relocated to South Dakota, before a few families from Johannisruh, led by preacher Jacob Wipf, established a third group with communal living, the Lehrerleut.
In 1864, the Primary Schools' Bill made Russian language the language of instruction in schools; then in 1871 a law introduced compulsory military service. These led the Mennonites and Hutterites to make plans for emigration.John A. Hostetler: Hutterite Society, Baltimore 1974, p. 112.
Most Hutterites are descended from these latter 400. Named for the leader of each group (the Schmiedeleut, Dariusleut and Lehrerleut, leut being based on the German word for people), they settled initially in the Dakota Territory. Here, each group reestablished the traditional Hutterite communal lifestyle.
Over the next decades, the Hutterites who settled on individual farms, the so-called Prairieleut, slowly assimilated first into Mennonite groups and later into the general American population. Until about 1910 there was intermarriage between the Prärieleut and the communally living Hutterites.Rod A. Janzen, The Prairie People: Forgotten Anabaptists. Hanover, NH, 1999.
Several state laws were enacted seeking to deny Hutterites religious legal status to their communal farms (colonies). Some colonies were disbanded before these decisions were overturned in the Supreme Court.[2] By this time, many Hutterites had already established new colonies in Alberta and Saskatchewan.[3]
During World War I, the pacifist Hutterites suffered persecution in the United States. In the most severe case, four Hutterite men, who were subjected to military draft but refused to comply, were imprisoned and physically abused. Ultimately, two of the four men, the brothers Joseph and Michael Hofer, died at Leavenworth Military Prison after the Armistice had been signed, bringing an end to the war. The Hutterite community said the men died from mistreatment; the U.S. government said the men died of pneumonia.Stoltzfus, Duane. Pacifists in Chains: The Persecution of Hutterites during the Great War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.
The Second World War reduced the public's acceptance of Hutterites.Canadian Encyclopedia, "Hutterites in Canada"
Accessed March 28, 2025 In 1942, the Province of Alberta passed the Communal Properties Act, severely restricting the expansion of the Dariusleut and Lehrerleut colonies. Although disallowed by the federal government in 1943the last time provincial legislation was so disallowed in Canadian historyand eventually repealed in 1973, the act caused new colonies that were founded to be located in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
The Hutterian Brethren Church was recognized by Parliament in 1951.Canada, Parliament, Senate, “Evidence: Study on the present state of the domestic & international financial system,” Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade & Commerce, 42nd Parl., 1st Sess., № 37 (2018‑03‑28–29), pp. 18–49 at 19.
As of March 2018, approximately 34,000 Hutterites were living in 350 colonies in Canada. This was 75 percent of the Brethren living in North America. About half of them lived in Alberta colonies, with a lesser number in BC and Saskatchewan.Canadian Encyclopedia, "Hutterites in Canada"
Accessed March 28, 2025 During summer 2020, many colonies struggled with outbreaks during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada because "Hutterite colony members eat, work, and worship together in community settings and share possessions", according to one report. The groups were taking steps to minimize the spread of the virus.
One news report defined the business operations of colonies as "industrial grade farms that produce grains, eggs, meat and vegetables, which are sold to large distributors and at local farmer's markets".
Section 143 of the Income Tax Act of Canada, introduced in 2007 and modified in 2014 with section 108(5), contains special rules to accommodate Hutterite colonies. According to a 2018 Senate report, colonies do not file income tax returns as corporations, but as individual members:Canada, Parliament, Senate, Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade & Commerce, Interim Report Concerning Taxation of Hutterites in Canada, 42nd Parl., 1st Sess., Rept. 21 (2018‑05‑31).
Based on a memorandum of understanding between the Hutterites and the Minister of National Revenue, section 143 creates a fictional trust to which all the property of the Hutterite colony and any associated income belongs. The trust's income may then be allocated to the individual Hutterite members, according to a formula set out in section 143, who can then claim the income on their personal tax returns.
In 2018, the Senate of Canada asked the House of Commons to review the legislation, because Hutterites were not being allowed to claim the Working Income Tax Benefit refundable tax credit (WITB), which was available to other farmers in Canada.
The founder of the Hutterite tradition, Jakob Hutter, "established the Hutterite colonies on the basis of the Schleitheim Confession, a classic Anabaptist statement of faith". In accordance with this confession of faith, Hutterite theology emphasizes credobaptism, a belief in the Church invisible, Christian pacifism, and the rejection of oaths. The Hutterite Churches also believe in "a set of community rules for Christian living and the principle of worldly separation". Former members are shunned and are not to be spoken to. (2025). 9781403982230, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403982230
Hutterite agriculture today is specialized and more or less industrialized. Hutterite children therefore have no close contact with farm animals any longer and are not protected from asthma through close contact with farm animals, as Amish children are, but are now similar to the general North American population.
The Secretary's wife sometimes holds the title of Schneider (from German "tailor") and thus she is in charge of clothes' making and purchasing the colony's fabric requirements for the making of all clothing. The term "boss" is used widely in colony language. Aside from the Secretary, who functions as the business boss, there are a number of other significant "boss" positions in most colonies. The most significant in the average colony is the "Farm Boss". This person is responsible for all aspects of overseeing grain farming operations. This includes crop management, agronomy, crop insurance planning and assigning staff to various farming operations.
Beyond these top-level leadership positions there will also be the "Hog Boss", "Dairy Boss", and so on, depending on what agricultural operations exist at the specific colony. In each case these individuals are fully responsible for their own areas of responsibility, and will have other colony residents working in those respective areas.
The Minister, Secretary, and all "boss" positions are elected positions and many decisions are put to a vote before they are implemented.
The voting and decision-making process at most colonies is based upon a two-tiered structure including a council — usually seven senior males — and the voting membership, which includes all the married men of the colony. For each "significant" decision the council will first vote and, if passed, the decision will be carried to the voting membership. Officials not following the selected decisions can be removed by a similar vote of a colony.
There is a wide range of leadership cultures and styles between the three main colony varieties. In some cases very dominant ministers or secretaries may hold greater sway over some colonies than others.
Women and children hold no formal voting power over decision-making in a colony, but they often hold influence on decision-making through the informal processes of a colony's social framework.
Overarching all internal governance processes within a single colony is the broader "Bishop" structure of leaders from across a "branch" (Lehrer-, Darius- or Schmiedeleut) such that all colonies within each branch are subject to the broader decision-making of that branch's "Bishop" council. A minister of a colony who does not ensure his colony follows broader "Bishop" council decisions can be removed from his position.
The process by which a colony splits to create a new daughter colony varies across the branches of colonies. In Lehrerleut, this process is quite structured, while in Darius and Schmiedeleut the process can be somewhat less so. In a Lehrerleut colony, the land will be purchased and buildings actually constructed before anyone in the colony knows who will be relocating to the daughter colony location. The final decision as to who leaves and who stays will not be made until everything is ready at the new location.
During the construction process, the colony leadership splits up the colony as evenly as possible, creating two separate groups of families. The two groups are made as equal as possible in size, taking into account the practical limits of family unit sizes in each group. Additionally, the leadership must split the business operations as evenly as possible. This means deciding which colony may take on, for example, either hog farming or dairy. Colony members are given a chance to voice concerns about which group a family is assigned to, but at some point, a final decision is made. This process can be very difficult and stressful for a colony, as many political and family dynamics become topics of discussion, and not everyone will be happy about the process or its results.
Once all decisions have been made, the two groups may be identified as "Group A" and "Group B". The last evening before a new group of people is to leave the "mother" colony for the "daughter" colony, two pieces of paper, labeled "Group A" and "Group B", are placed into a hat. The minister will pray, asking for God's choice of the paper drawn from the hat, and will draw one piece of paper. The name drawn will indicate which group is leaving for the daughter colony. Within hours, the daughter colony begins the process of settling at a brand new site.
This very structured procedure differs dramatically from the one that may be used at some Darius and Schmiedeleut colonies, where the split can sometimes be staggered over time, with only small groups of people moving to the new location at a time.
A major driving force for Hutterite leadership nowadays is the recognition that land prices have risen dramatically in Alberta and Saskatchewan because of the oil and gas industry, thus creating the need for a greater amount of cash to buy land when the time comes for a colony to split. The splitting process requires the purchase of land and the construction of buildings. This can require funds in the range of Canadian dollar20 million in 2008 terms: upwards of $10M for land and another $10M for buildings and construction. This massive cash requirement has forced leadership to reevaluate how a colony can produce the necessary funds. New projects have included plastics' manufacturing, metal fabrication, cabinetry and stone or granite forming, to name a few. One unique project came together in South Dakota. A group of 44 colonies joined to create a turkey processing center where their poultry can be processed. The plant hired non-Hutterite staff to process the poultry for market. This plant helped to secure demand for the colonies' poultry.
Today, Hutterites widely use telephones for both business and social purposes. Cell phones are also very common among all three groups today. Text messaging has made cell phones particularly useful for Hutterian young people wishing to keep in touch with their peers. Some Hutterite homes have computers and radios; and some (mostly liberal Schmiedeleut colonies) have Internet access. Farming equipment technology generally matches or exceeds that of non-Hutterite farmers. Lehrerleut colonies have recently struggled with the proliferation of computers and have clamped down, so that computers are no longer allowed in households and their use is limited to only business and farming operations, including animal, feed and crop management. As the world evolves more, however, and technology is used more and more for work and communication, many Hutterite young people use computers, photos, and the internet for keeping in contact with their friends and relatives and meeting new people outside the colony.
There are two other related groups. The Arnoldleut—also referred to as the Bruderhof Communities or currently, Church Communities International—is a group of more recent origin which, prior to 1990, were accepted by the Dariusleut and Lehrerleut groups as a part of the Hutterite community. The Schmiedeleut were divided over the issue; one group(Group 1) is called the 'oilers', because of an issue over an oil well and the other group(Group 2) is called the 'Gibbs'. The other is the Prairieleut – Hutterites that lived in separate households rather than in colonies after settling on the American prairies. At the time of immigration the Prairieleut amounted to around 2/3 of the Hutterite immigrants. Most of the Prairieleut eventually united with the Mennonites.
Since 1992, the Schmiedeleut, until that point the largest of the three "leut," have been divided into "Group One" and "Group Two" factions over controversies including the Arnoldleut/Bruderhof issue and the leadership of the Schmiedeleut elder. This highly acrimonious division has cut across family lines and remains a serious matter almost three decades later. Group One colonies generally have relatively more liberal positions on issues including higher education, ecumenical and missions work, musical instruments, media, and technology.
However, in July 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 4–3 (in Alberta v. Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony) that a Hutterite community must abide by provincial rules that make a digital photo mandatory for all new driver's licenses as a way to prevent identity theft. Alberta v. Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony , 2009 SCC 37 (July 24, 2009) Hutterites need driver's licence photos: top court, CBC News, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, July 24, 2009
From 1972 to 1980, Chicago photographer Mary Koga traveled to rural Alberta to photograph members of the community for her series The Hutterites.
A 2018 report published by the Huffington Post contained a series of photographs made by Jill Brody over several years at three colonies in Montana.
Men's jackets and pants are usually black. Generally, the men wear buttoned-up shirts with long sleeves and collars, and they may wear undershirts. Men's pants are not held in place by belts, but rather by black suspenders. These pants are also distinctive by their lack of back pockets.
Women and girls each wear a dress with a blouse underneath. Most Lehrerleut and Dariusleut also wear a kerchief-style Christian headcovering which is usually black with white polka dots. The Schmiedleut also wear a kerchief-style head cover, but without the dots. The pattern of kerchief thus indicates to which branch the women belong: large dots indicate Lehrerleut, small dots Dariusleut and no dots Schmiedeleut. In some cases Dariusleut kerchiefs also have no dots. Female members of the Bruderhof wear solid colored kerchiefs in black, blue or white and sometimes no kerchief at all.
Young girls each wear a bright, colorful cap that fastens under the chin.
Church garb is generally dark for both men and women. The clothing worn for church consists of a plain jacket for both genders and a black apron for women. Men's church hats are always dark and usually black.
Consistent with their beliefs, records do not indicate any litigation initiated by the Hutterites up to the twentieth century. However, in their more recent history in North America some Hutterite conflicts have emerged in court litigations. Several cases involved the Hutterite Colony defending their religious lifestyle against the government. This includes the recent conflict over photographs on driver's licenses in Alberta v Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony. Another recent case in the United States, Big Sky Colony Inc. v. Montana Department of Labor and Industry, forced the Hutterites to participate in the workers' compensation system despite the Hutterites' religious objections.
The willingness of the colonies to take matters to secular courts has also resulted in internal religious disputes being brought before the court. Two of these cases have come to appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada: Hofer v. Hofer (1970) and Lakeside Colony of Hutterian Brethren v. Hofer (1992). Hofer v. Hofer involved several expelled members of the Interlake Colony in Manitoba who sought a share of the communal property. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that according to the religious tenets of the Hutterites, the Hutterites have no individual property and therefore the former members cannot be entitled to a share of the Hutterite colony's goods. In the case of Lakeside Colony of Hutterian Brethren v. Hofer, Daniel Hofer Sr. of Lakeside Colony challenged the right of the Hutterian Brethren Church to expel him and other members. The igniting issue focused on who owned the rights to a patented hog feeder. The Board of Managers of the Colony had ruled that Hofer did not own the patent of the hog feeder in question and should stop producing the item. Hofer refused to submit to what he considered was an injustice and also refused to obey the colony's order of expulsion. In response Jacob Kleinsasser of Crystal Spring Colony, elder of the Schmiedleut group of Hutterites, tried to use the state to enforce the expulsion order. Daniel Hofer Sr. initially lost the case. Hofer also lost his first appeal but finally won on an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, who overturned the expulsion. The outcome of these two cases has strongly influenced the outcome of similar cases in Canada. When some members of The Nine sued their former colony in Manitoba in 2008 over lost wages and injuries the case was never even heard in court.
In the United States judges have repeatedly dismissed cases that were brought against the colony by colony members or former members. Such cases include Wollma, et al. v. Poinsett Hutterian Brethren, Inc. (1994) in South Dakota, and Eli Wollman Sr. et al. v. Ayers Ranch Colony (2001) in Montana. More recently in North Dakota, a case was brought by some of The Nine against Forest River Colony and was again dismissed by a judge in March 2010, ruling that the courts did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the case.
During the 20th century three groups joined the Hutterites, two of them only temporarily:
Starting in 1999, three Hutterite colonies separated from their original "Leut" affiliation and became independent. For these three colonies spiritual renewal became a major concern. One of them, Elmendorf, branched out two times, so that there are now five colonies of that kind, which co-operate closely, thus forming a new affiliation of Hutterite Christian Communities.
Approximately 75% of all Hutterites reside in Canada, with the remaining 25% living in the United States.
| + Hutterite population by Canadian province ! data-sort-type="text" | Province ! data-sort-type="number" | 2016 census |
| 16,935 | ||
| 11,275 | ||
| 6,250 | ||
In 1995 there were a total of 285 Hutterite colonies in Canada (138 in Alberta, 93 colonies in Manitoba and 54 in Saskatchewan). By 2011, there were 345 across the Prairies – a 21 percent increase. The 2016 census recorded 370 Hutterite colonies in Canada, of these: 175 were in Alberta, 110 in Manitoba and 70 in Saskatchewan.
The same 2016 census which recorded 370 colonies, counted a total Hutterite population of 35,010 people (up from 32,500 in 2011).
The approximate U.S. population of Brethren was 11,000 in 2018.
In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census counted 15,531 Hutterites (in 145 congregations), of which: 9,041 of Schmiedeleut group (77 congregations), 4,754 of Lehrerleut (43 congregations), 1,409 of Dariusleut (22 congregations) and 327 in other groups (3 congr.). U.S. Religion Census | Maps and data files for 2020
Below is the list of US counties by Hutterite percentage and population. Data according to "Association of Religion Data Archives" (ARDA) in its laterst report. 2020 Study Information U.S. Religion Census | Maps and data files for 2020
As of March 2018, there were 120 colonies in the United States, of which: 54 colonies in South Dakota, 50 in Montana, nine in Minnesota and seven in North Dakota. A Montana government report in 2010 published a specific list of colonies and schools in that state. Hutterite colonies have existed in the rural farming areas of eastern Washington state since the mid-20th century.
+ Hutterite population by US state
! data-sort-type="text" State
! data-sort-type="number" 2020 estimate 7,567 5,498 976 764 592 134
