 Today, the states of New York and New Jersey have the largest populations of Italian-Americans in the United States, while Rhode Island and Connecticut have the highest overall percentages in relation to their respective populations.In sharp contrast, most of the rest of the country (exceptions being South Florida and New Orleans) have very few Italian-American residents.During the labor shortage in the 19th and early 20th centuries, planters in the Deep South did attract some Italian immigrants to work as sharecroppers, but they soon left due to extreme anti-Italian discrimination and strict regimen of the plantations.