I once read that something like 3 or 5 out of every 10 Americans can trace their heritage to Germany. I wish I could remember the exact figure. I have 2 or 3 sets of "hispanic" cousins who even have German ancestry far back on the "non-HR Family" side because of some Germans who settled in Northern Mexico.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, 47 million Americans are of German ancestry. German-Americans represent 16% of the total U.S. population and 24% of the non-Hispanic white population.
Of the four major U.S. regions, German was the most-reported ancestry in the Midwest, second in the West, and third in the Northeast and South regions. German was the top reported ancestry in 23 states, and it was one of the top five reported ancestries in every state except Maine and Rhode Island.