In 2025, there were around 1.53 billion people worldwide who spoke English either natively or as a second language, slightly more than the 1.18 billion Mandarin Chinese speakers at the time of survey. Hindi and Spanish accounted for the third and fourth most widespread languages that year. Languages in the United States The United States does not have an official language, but the country uses English, specifically American English, for legislation, regulation, and other official pronouncements. The United States is a land of immigration, and the languages spoken in the United States vary as a result of the multicultural population. The second most common language spoken in the United States is Spanish or Spanish Creole, which over than 43 million people spoke at home in 2023. There were also 3.5 million Chinese speakers (including both Mandarin and Cantonese),1.8 million Tagalog speakers, and 1.57 million Vietnamese speakers counted in the United States that year. Different languages at home The percentage of people in the United States speaking a language other than English at home varies from state to state. The state with the highest percentage of population speaking a language other than English is California. About 45 percent of its population was speaking a language other than English at home in 2023.

Many residents of New York City speak more than one language; a number of them speak and understand non-English languages more fluently than English. This dataset, derived from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), includes information on over 1.7 million limited English proficient (LEP) residents and a subset of that population called limited English proficient citizens of voting age (CVALEP) at the Community District level. There are 59 community districts throughout NYC, with each district being represented by a Community Board.

Table from the American Community Survey (ACS) B16003 of age by language spoken at home for the population 5 years and over in limited English-speaking households. These are multiple, nonoverlapping vintages of the 5-year ACS estimates of population and housing attributes starting in 2010 shown by the corresponding census tract vintage. Also includes the most recent release annually.King County, Washington census tracts with nonoverlapping vintages of the 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) estimates starting in 2010. Vintage identified in the "ACS Vintage" field.The census tract boundaries match the vintage of the ACS data (currently 2010 and 2020) so please note the geographic changes between the decades. Tracts have been coded as being within the City of Seattle as well as assigned to neighborhood groups called "Community Reporting Areas". These areas were created after the 2000 census to provide geographically consistent neighborhoods through time for reporting U.S. Census Bureau data. This is not an attempt to identify neighborhood boundaries as defined by neighborhoods themselves.Vintages: 2010, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023ACS Table(s): B16003Data downloaded from: <a href='https://data.c

As of 2023, more than ** percent of people in the United States spoke a language other than English at home. California had the highest share among all U.S. states, with ** percent of its population speaking a language other than English at home.

This data set uses the 2009-2013 American Community Survey to tabulate the number of speakers of languages spoken at home and the number of speakers of each language who speak English less than very well. These tabulations are available for the following geographies: nation; each of the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico; counties with 100,000 or more total population and 25,000 or more speakers of languages other than English and Spanish; core-based statistical areas (metropolitan statistical areas and micropolitan statistical areas) with 100,000 or more total population and 25,000 or more speakers of languages other than English and Spanish.

As of 2024, approximately 4.74 million inhabitants in Finland were Finnish-speaking. While the majority of the population have Finnish as their first language, around 285,400 people spoke Swedish as their first language, and 2,077 people were Sami-speaking. In 2024, the number of people speaking other languages increased to over 610,100.

Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, for 2020, the 2020 Census provides the official counts of the population and housing units for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns. For 2016 to 2019, the Population Estimates Program provides estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns and intercensal housing unit estimates for the nation, states, and counties..Supporting documentation on code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Technical Documentation section.Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section..Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables..In 2016, changes were made to the languages and language categories presented in tables B16001, C16001, and B16002. For more information, see: 2016 Language Data User note..Geographical restrictions have been applied to Table B16001 - LANGUAGE SPOKEN AT HOME BY ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH FOR THE POPULATION 5 YEARS AND OVER for the 5-year data estimates. These restrictions are in place to protect data privacy for the speakers of smaller languages. Geographic areas published for the 5-year B16001 table include: Nation (010), States (040), Metropolitan Statistical Area-Metropolitan Divisions (314), Combined Statistical Areas (330), Congressional Districts (500), and Public Use Microdata Sample Areas (PUMAs) (795). For more information on these geographical delineations, see the Metropolitan Statistical Area Reference Files. County and tract-level data are no longer available for table B16001; for specific language data for these smaller geographies, please use table C16001. Additional languages are also available in the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), at the State and Public Use Microdata Sample Area (PUMA) levels of geography..The 2016-2020 American Community Survey (ACS) data generally reflect the September 2018 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineations of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. In certain instances, the names, codes, and boundaries of the principal cities shown in ACS tables may differ from the OMB delineation lists due to differences in the effective dates of the geographic entities..Estimates of urban and rural populations, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on Census 2010 data. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..Explanation of Symbols:- The estimate could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations. For a ratio of medians estimate, one or both of the median estimates falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution.N The estimate or margin of error cannot be displayed because there were an insufficient number of sample cases in the selected geographic area. (X) The estimate or margin of error is not applicable or not available.median- The median falls in the lowest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "2,500-")median+ The median falls in the highest interval of an open-ended distribution (for example "250,000+").** The margin of error could not be computed because there were an insufficient number of sample observations.*** The margin of error could not be computed because the median falls in the lowest interval or highest interval of an open-ended distribution.***** A margin of error is not appropriate because the corresponding estimate is controlled to an independent population or housing estimate. Effectively, the corresponding estimate has no sampling error and the margin of error may be treated as zero.

Data on the first official language spoken of the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2016.

In 2023, around 43.37 million people in the United States spoke Spanish at home. In comparison, approximately 998,179 people were speaking Russian at home during the same year. The distribution of the U.S. population by ethnicity can be accessed here. A ranking of the most spoken languages across the world can be accessed here.

This feature layer was created using Census 2016 data produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and Constituency boundary data (generalised to 50m) produced by Tailte Éireann. The layer represents Census 2016 theme 2.5, speakers of foreign languages by languages spoken. Attributes include population breakdown by languages spoken by foreign language speakers (e.g. Polish, French). Census 2016 theme 2 represents Migration, Ethnicity and Religion. The Census is carried out every five years by the CSO to determine an account of every person in Ireland. The results provide information on a range of themes, such as, population, housing and education. The data were sourced from the CSO. Constituency Boundaries generalised to 50m are based on the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013.

2013-2023 Virginia Population by Age by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 years and over by Census Block Group. Contains estimates and margins of error.

U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B16004 Data accessed from: Census Bureau's API for American Community Survey (https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets.html)

The United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS): -What is the American Community Survey? (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/about.html) -Geography & ACS (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/geography-acs.html) -Technical Documentation (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation.html)

Supporting documentation on code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Technical Documentation section. (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation/code-lists.html)

Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section. (https://www.census.gov/acs/www/methodology/sample_size_and_data_quality/)

Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, it is the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program that produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities, and towns and estimates of housing units for states and counties.

Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation.html). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.

The American Community Survey, Table B16001 provided detailed individual-level language estimates at the tract level of 42 non-English language categories, tabulated by the English-speaking ability. Two sets of languages data are included here, with population counts and percentages for both:the tract population speaking languages other than English, regardless of English=speaking ability, identified by the language name, and the languages spoken other than English by the tract population who does not speak English 'very well', identified by the language name followed by "_Enw".The default pop-up for this service presents the second of these data: languages spoken other than English by the tract population who does not speak English 'very well'.In part because of privacy concerns with the very small counts in some categories in Table B16001, the Census changed the American Community Survey estimates of the languages spoken by individuals. In 2016, the number of categories previously presented in Table B16001 was reduced to reflect the most commonly spoken languages, and several languages spoken in Massachusetts were grouped into generalized (i.e., "Other...") categories.Table B16001 has been renamed Table C16001 with these generalized categories. Therefore, although the information presented in this datalayer is not current, and these data cannot be updated.

Language questions were only asked of persons 5 years and older. The language question is about current use of a non-English language at home, not about ability to speak another language or the use of such a language in the past or elsewhere. People who speak a language other than English outside of the home are not reported as speaking a language other than English. Respondents that spoke a language other than English at home, where also asked whether they could speak English "very well" or less than "very well. See how the Census Bureau measures Language Use for more information at https://www.census.gov/topics/population/language-use/about.html.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table C16001.

ABS Census data extract - G13 LANGUAGE USED AT HOME BY PROFICIENCY IN SPOKEN ENGLISH providing a breakdown of population at LGA level and by:speaks English onlyother language(a)not stated(b)other Chinese languages(c)other Indo-Aryan languages(d)other Southeast Asian Austronesian languages(e)other(f)This data is based on place of usual residence.(a) This list of languages consists of the most common Language used at home responses reported in the 2016 Census and 2011 Census. (b) Includes the categories 'Proficiency in English not stated' and 'Language and proficiency in English not stated'.(c) Comprises 'Chinese, nfd', 'Hakka', 'Wu', 'Min Nan' and 'Chinese, nec'.(d) Comprises' Indo-Aryan, nfd', 'Konkani', 'Marathi', 'Sindhi', 'Assamese', 'Dhivehi', 'Kashmiri', 'Oriya', 'Fijian Hindustani' and 'Indo-Aryan, nec'.(e) Comprises 'Bikol', 'Bisaya', 'Cebuano', 'Ilokano', 'Ilonggo (Hiligaynon)', 'Pampangan', 'Malay', 'Tetum', 'Timorese', 'Acehnese', 'Balinese', 'Iban', 'Javanese', 'Southeast Asian Austronesian Languages, nec' and 'Southeast Asian Austronesian Languages, nfd'.(f) Includes languages not identified individually, 'Inadequately described' and 'Non-verbal, so described'.Please note that there are small random adjustments made to all cell values to protect the confidentiality of data. These adjustments may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from table totals.

Language spoken at home and the ability to speak English for the population age 5 and over as reported by the US Census Bureau's, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates table C16001.

Statistics Canada Census Data from 2021. This file geodatabase includes extra data for the language at home total, male, and female populations provided by Statistics Canada joined with the census tracts. The extra tables include the following:Language spoken at home for the total population by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where English is their first official language spoken by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where French is their first official language spoken by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where English and French are their first official languages spoken by ageLanguage spoken at home for the total population where neither English nor French are their first official language spoken by ageThe geodatabase also includes tables of the above topics for the male and female populations.NOTE: Only languages where there were one or more respondents were included. For a full list of languages included in the census, please refer to the List of Languages by Statistics Canada.For more information on definitions of terms used in the tables and other notes, refer to Statistics Canada's Languages Reference Guide and Statistics Canada's 2021 Census.

Data on the language spoken most often at home by the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2021.

Counts and breakdown of languages used data with margins of error for Alaskan Communities/Places and aggregation at Borough/CDA and State level for recent 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) intervals. The 5-year interval data sets are published approximately 1/2 a period later than the End Year listed - for instance the interval ending in 2019 is published in mid-2021.Source: US Census Bureau, American Community SurveyThis data has been visualized in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) format and is provided as a service in the DCRA Information Portal by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development Division of Community and Regional Affairs (SOA DCCED DCRA), Research and Analysis section. SOA DCCED DCRA Research and Analysis is not the authoritative source for this data. For more information and for questions about this data, see: US Census - Language UseUSE CONSTRAINTS: The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) provides the data in this application as a service to the public. DCCED makes no warranty, representation, or guarantee as to the content, accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any of the data provided on this site. DCCED shall not be liable to the user for damages of any kind arising out of the use of data or information provided. DCCED is not the authoritative source for American Community Survey data, and any data or information provided by DCCED is provided "as is". Data or information provided by DCCED shall be used and relied upon only at the user's sole risk. For information about the American Community Survey, click here.

Map of the percentage of the official language minority population (according to first official language spoken, adjusted responses) within the total population by economic region. Multiple responses distributed equally among respondents. Data from 2016 Census of Canada, 100% sample.

Top Languages Spoken in the United States

The Impact of linguistics on Community and Business in America

About this dataset

Languages are an important part of daily life in the USA. Here is a table that shows the most common languages spoken in the USA, as well as a big spreadsheet which shows each CBSA (Core-Based Statistical Area, or urban area).

Language usage varies widely throughout the United States. According to the latest census data, over 350 different languages are represented in homes across the country. The following table and spreadsheet provide more detailed information on language usage throughout the various states and cities in the US:

Columns: - index: Index column for dataframe - Table with column headers in row 5 and row headers in column A: Contains language data for each CBSA (Core Based Statistical Area) - Unnamed: 1: Rank of CBSA by total number of speakers of all languages - Unnamed: 2: Name of CBSA - Unnamed: 3: Population of CBSA - Unnamed: 4: Percent of population that speaks English very well - Unnamed: 5 through Unnamed: 58 : Languages spoken by at least 0.1% of the population, with corresponding percentages

How to use the dataset

1. This dataset can be used to understand the linguistic diversity of the United States, and to compare languages spoken across different states and cities.
2. This data can also be used to explore trends in language usage over time.
3. businesses can use this dataset to identify which languages are most commonly spoken in the areas in which they operate and tailor their marketing or customer service accordingly.
4. Schools could use this dataset to plan language-learning programs based on the needs of their community.
5. Policymakers could use this data to better understand linguistic diversity in the United States and design programs to support bilingualism or multilingualism

Research Ideas

1. Businesses can use this dataset to identify which languages are most commonly spoken in the areas in which they operate and cater their marketing or customer service accordingly.
2. Schools could use this data to plan language-learning programs based on the needs of their community.
3. Policymakers could use this dataset to better understand linguistic diversity in the United States and design programs to support bilingualism or multilingualism

Acknowledgements

This dataset was created by Gary Hoover. The data was sourced from https://www.kaggle.com/garyhoov/us-languages

License

Unknown License - Please check the dataset description for more information.

Columns

File: Languages Spoken at Home by Urban Area = CBSA.csv

File: US Languages Spoken at Home 2014.csv | Column name | Description | |:-------------------------------------------------------------------|:--------------| | Table with column headers in row 5 and row headers in column A | |