Languages spoken in major U.S. cities



In October 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau released the "2009-2013 American Community Survey" which provides information on "languages spoken at home" and "ability to speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over" for the United States as a whole, states including Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., selected counties, and selected cities and urban areas. The following provides aggregated survey information on languages spoken in U.S. cities

Table showing languages spoken in U.S. cities






Population 5 years and over
Speak only English at home
Speak a language other than English at home
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
  • French (incl. Patois, Cajun)
  • French Creole
  • Italian
  • Portuguese (incl. Portuguese Creole)
  • German (incl. Luxembourgian)
  • Yiddish
  • Other West Germanic languages
  • Scandinavian languages
  • Greek
  • Russian
  • Polish
  • Serbo-Croatian languages
  • Other Slavic languages
  • Armenian
  • Persian
  • Hindi
  • Gujarati
  • Urdu
  • Other Indic languages
  • Other Indo-European languages

  • ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES
  • Chinese (incl. Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages)
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Mon-Khmer, Cambodian
  • Hmong
  • Thai
  • Laotian
  • Vietnamese
  • Other Asian languages
  • Tagalog
  • Other Pacific Island languages

  • ALL OTHER LANGUAGES
  • Navajo
  • Other Native North American languages
  • Hungarian
  • Arabic
  • Hebrew
  • African languages
  • Other and unspecified languages



  • BY STATE
    BY COUNTY
    BY CITY
  • Akron, OH
  • Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
  • Albuquerque, NM
  • Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
  • Anchorage, AK
  • Ann Arbor, MI
  • Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
  • Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
  • Austin-Round Rock, TX
  • Bakersfield, CA
  • Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
  • Baton Rouge, LA
  • Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
  • Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
  • Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY
  • Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
  • Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
  • Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
  • Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
  • Cleveland-Elyria, OH
  • Colorado Springs, CO
  • Columbus, OH
  • Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
  • Dayton, OH
  • Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
  • Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
  • Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
  • Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
  • Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
  • Farmington, NM
  • Fresno, CA
  • Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
  • Greensboro-High Point, NC
  • Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
  • Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
  • Hilo, HI
  • Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
  • Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN
  • Jacksonville, FL
  • Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI
  • Kansas City, MO-KS
  • Lafayette, LA
  • Lancaster, PA
  • Lansing-East Lansing, MI
  • Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
  • Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
  • Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
  • Madison, WI
  • Manchester-Nashua, NH
  • Memphis, TN-MS-AR
  • Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
  • Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
  • Modesto, CA
  • Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL
  • Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
  • New Haven-Milford, CT
  • New Orleans-Metairie, LA
  • New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
  • North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
  • Oklahoma City, OK
  • Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
  • Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
  • Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
  • Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
  • Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
  • Pittsburgh, PA
  • Portland-South Portland, ME
  • Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
  • Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Reno, NV
  • Richmond, VA
  • Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
  • Rochester, NY
  • Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
  • St. Louis, MO-IL
  • Salinas, CA
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
  • San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
  • San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
  • San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
  • Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
  • Santa Rosa, CA
  • Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
  • Show Low, AZ
  • Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
  • Springfield, MA
  • Stockton-Lodi, CA
  • Syracuse, NY
  • Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
  • Trenton, NJ
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Tulsa, OK
  • Urban Honolulu, HI
  • Vallejo-Fairfield, CA
  • Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
  • Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
  • Worcester, MA-CT





  • Notes
    • Number of speakers and Speak English less than "Very Well": Detailed-language estimates are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Aggregate estimates ("language category" and "language sub-category" entries) are unrounded and appear in table B16001. Detailed-language estimates may not sum to aggregate estimates because of rounding.
    • Margin of Error and Margin of Error: 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 Accuracy of the Data. The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.
    • (D): Data withheld to avoid disclosure.
    • (B): Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
    • (X): Question does not apply.
    • -: Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.
    • 3 N.E.C. stands for not elsewhere classified. These are languages where respondents indicated they spoke either Indian or Pakistan. For Indian, it cannot be determined if the respondent spoke a native American language or spoke a language from India. For Pakistan, respondents wrote in Pakistan but it cannot be determined which one of the languages spoken in Pakistan is actually being spoken. To distinguish these languages, n.e.c. is used to indicated they are not classified in any other language code.
    • This category includes literal write-ins of Chinese as well as Hakka, Kan, Hsiang, Cantonese, Mandarin, Fuchow, Formosan, and Wu.


    Surnames by race:  Asian   |  Black   |  Hispanic   |  Native American   |  Two or More Races   |  White

    Surnames Alphabetical:  A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z

    Most Common Male Names:  1-300  |   301-600  |   601-900  |   901+  |   Alphabetical list

    Most Common Female Names:  1-1000 1001-2000  |   2001-3000  |   3001+  |   Alphabetical list

    Popular Baby Names in the U.S. (Historic)  Boys: 1-250  |  251-500  |  501-750  |  751-1000        Girls: 1-250  |  251-500  |  501-750  |  751-1000

    Ancestry in the United States:  Ancestry by city  |   Mexican  |   German  |   Irish  |   English  |   African American  |   More





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