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.

This dataset provides a comprehensive overview of 500 languages spoken around the world. It captures essential linguistic features, including language families, geographical regions, writing systems, and the estimated number of native speakers. This dataset aims to highlight the rich diversity of languages and their cultural significance, offering valuable insights for linguists, researchers, and enthusiasts interested in global language distribution.

The dataset contains real and accurate records for 500 languages across different regions and linguistic families. It covers a diverse range of languages, from widely spoken ones like English and Mandarin to less commonly known languages. The data was meticulously compiled to reflect the authentic linguistic landscape and provide a valuable resource for language studies and cultural analysis.

In 2024, some 45 million people in the United States spoke Spanish at home. In comparison, the second most spoken non-English language spoken by households was Chinese, at just 3.7 million speakers.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.

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.

🔗 Related Datasets

• Virginia Population Hispanic or Latino Origin by Race by Census Block Group (ACS 5-Year) — Office of INTERMODAL Planning and Investment
• Virginia Population by Census Block Group (ACS 5-Year) — Office of INTERMODAL Planning and Investment
• Virginia Population by Urban Area (ACS 5-Year) — Office of INTERMODAL Planning and Investment
• Virginia Population by Sex by Age by Census Block Group (ACS 5-Year) — Office of INTERMODAL Planning and Investment
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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 | |

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.

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.

This map displays predominant language and language family by country. Language family attributes include the number of languages in the family and the number of people, worldwide, who speak languages from that family. Language by country attributes include language and language family.

Data on the first official language spoken by the population of Canada and Canada outside Quebec, and of all provinces and territories, for Census years 1971 to 2021.

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.

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.

Context

After going through quite the verbal loop when ordering foreign currency through the bank, which involved a discussion with an assigned financial advisor at the branch the following day to confirm details, I noticed despite our names hinting at the assumed typical background similarities, communication by phone was much more difficult due to the thickness in accents and different speech patterns when voicing from a non-native speaker.

It hit me then coming from an extremely multicultural and welcoming city, the challenges others from completely different labels given to them in life must go through in their daily affairs when having to face communication barriers that I myself encountered, particularly when interacting with those outside their usual bubble. Now imagine this situation occurring every hour across the world in various sectors of business. How may this impede, help or create frustrations in minor or major ways as a result of increasing workplace diversity quota demands, customer satisfaction needs and process efficiencies?

The data I was looking for to explore this phenomena existed in the form of native and non-native speakers of the 100 most commonly spoken languages across the globe.

Content

The data in this database contains the following attributes:

• Language - name of the language
• Total Speakers - this assumes both native and non-native speakers
• Native Speakers - native speakers of the language
• Origin - family origin group of said language

Acknowledgements

The data was collected with the aid of WordTips visualization of the 22nd edition of Ethnologue - "a research center for language intelligence"

https://www.ethnologue.com/world https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/ethnologue200 https://word.tips/pictures/b684e98f-f512-4ac0-96a4-0efcf6decbc0_most-spoken-languages-world-5.png?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,2001,7115&w=800&h=2845

Inspiration

As globalization no longer constrains us, what implications will this have in terms of organizational communications conducted moving forward? I believe this is something to be examined in careful context in order to make customer relationship processes meaningful rather than it being confined to a strictly detached transactional basis.

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.

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.

This table is part of a series of tables that present a portrait of Canada based on the various census topics. The tables range in complexity and levels of geography. Content varies from a simple overview of the country to complex cross-tabulations; the tables may also cover several censuses.

The Nation is the first series to release basic data from the 1996 Census, providing national coverage. This series covers characteristics of the population, including demographic, social, cultural, labour force and income variables as well as details on dwellings, households and families. Generally the data are represented for Canada, provinces, territories and census metropolitan areas. Some tables include comparisons with data from earlier censuses. The aggregate data tables are presented in Beyond 20/20 Format (.ivt).

This layer shows the Hong Kong Population Distribution Population Distribution by usual spoken language by Large Tertiary Planning Unit Group in 2021. It is a subset of the 2021 Population Census made available by the Census and Statistics Department under the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the "Government") at https://portal.csdi.gov.hk ("CSDI Portal"). The source data is in CSV format and has been processed and converted into Esri File Geodatabase format and then uploaded to Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform for sharing and reference purpose. The objectives are to facilitate our Hong Kong ArcGIS Online users to use the data in a spatial ready format and save their data conversion effort.For details about the data, source format and terms of conditions of usage, please refer to the website of CSDI Portal at https://portal.csdi.gov.hk.

Provides information highlights by topic via key indicators for various levels of geography. * Canada, provinces and territories * census divisions * census subdivisions with 5,000-plus population (municipalities) * census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations

US Census American Community Survey Custom Tabulation (ST542) by Census Tract. Language spoken at home for population 5 years and over by ability to speak English, summarized by census tract for 114 languages spoken across LA County, 5-year estimates 2019-2023.See also source data tables:Census Tracts: Language Spoken at Home LA County Census TractsLA County: Language Spoken at Home LA County Headings:GEOIDGeography identificationCT20Census tract (2020)NameCensus tract nameCSACountywide Statistical Area (city or community)SPAService Planning AreaSDSupervisorial Districttotal_popPopulation over 5 years old in census tract (universe)total_limited_engPopulation that speaks English less than "very well"total_limited_eng_pctPercent of population that speaks English less than "very well"