Languages spoken in Philadelphia County, PA

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 Philadelphia County [PA]

Table showing languages spoken in Philadelphia County, PA

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

Other Indic languages

Other Indo-European languages

ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES

Chinese (incl. Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages)

Other Asian languages

Tagalog

Other Pacific Island languages

ALL OTHER LANGUAGES

Navajo

Other Native North American languages

Other and unspecified languages

BY STATE
BY COUNTY
BY CITY

Language	Number of speakers	Margin of Error	Speak English less than "Very Well"	Margin of Error
Population 5 years and over	1,432,316	6	138,697	3,465
Speak only English at home	1,123,711	4,240	(X)	(X)
Speak a language other than English at home	308,605	4,241	138,697	3,465
SPANISH AND SPANISH CREOLE	141,766	2,129	56,053	2,023
Spanish	141,765	2,129	56,055	2,023
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES	74,959	3,371	32,522	1,956
French (incl Patois, Cajun)	8,634	1,135	2,797	565
French	8,145	1,107	2,765	558
Patois	485	193	30	29
French Creole	7,886	1,348	3,499	761
Italian	6,675	790	2,310	368
Portuguese (incl Portuguese Creole)	5,034	1,119	2,716	766
Portuguese	5,035	1,119	2,715	766
German (incl Luxembourgian)	2,943	373	499	167
German	2,945	373	500	167
Yiddish	844	225	108	77
Other West Germanic languages	521	248	26	34
Pennsylvania Dutch	300	207	(D)	(D)
Dutch	175	90	(B)	-
Afrikaans	45	42	(D)	(D)
Scandinavian languages	460	209	117	93
Swedish	180	123	80	87
Danish	200	156	(D)	(D)
Norwegian	40	28	(D)	(D)
Icelandic	35	42	(B)	-
Greek	1,848	614	442	190
Russian	11,703	1,166	7,559	800
Polish	4,561	715	2,308	472
Serbo-Croatian languages	679	304	264	160
Serbocroatian	225	199	120	121
Croatian	235	167	70	56
Serbian	220	137	75	77
Other Slavic languages	4,683	1,039	2,338	614
Bielorussian	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Ukrainian	3,940	954	1,925	535
Czech	105	109	80	107
Slovak	85	75	(D)	(D)
Bulgarian	505	284	250	189
Macedonian	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Armenian	305	148	18	26
Persian	598	242	128	83
Hindi	2,897	565	588	261
Gujarati	2,721	754	1,045	373
Urdu	1,806	743	841	465
Other Indic languages	3,687	808	1,873	596
India nec3	265	197	(D)	(D)
Bengali	1,590	542	625	286
Panjabi	480	367	345	344
Marathi	315	217	80	96
Assamese	15	16	(B)	-
Nepali	660	401	550	383
Sindhi	205	248	130	183
Pakistan nec3	70	64	70	64
Sinhalese	85	81	40	47
Other Indo-European languages	6,474	986	3,046	602
Jamaican Creole	680	332	(D)	(D)
Krio	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Catalonian	55	70	(D)	(D)
Romanian	820	269	350	130
Irish Gaelic	90	64	(D)	(D)
Albanian	4,460	876	2,440	550
Lithuanian	130	76	45	45
Latvian	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Pashto	215	199	135	130
ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES	70,832	1,881	43,335	1,618
Chinese (incl Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages4)	26,342	1,629	17,851	1,311
Chinese	18,725	1,436	12,695	1,219
Cantonese	4,005	772	2,740	581
Mandarin	3,215	549	2,165	474
Fuchow	125	110	125	110
Formosan	280	268	125	158
Japanese	896	271	328	124
Korean	4,605	769	2,385	555
Mon-Khmer, Cambodian	7,918	1,302	4,559	973
Hmong	163	232	42	60
Thai	581	223	350	166
Laotian	1,057	543	625	369
Vietnamese	15,461	1,508	10,673	1,225
Other Asian languages	8,067	1,134	3,813	683
Uighur	220	164	165	137
Turkish	480	167	145	104
Turkmen	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Mongolian	35	48	(D)	(D)
Telugu	340	209	25	28
Kannada	195	161	(D)	(D)
Malayalam	6,050	975	3,005	597
Tamil	365	172	80	83
Tibetan	125	171	125	171
Burmese	235	183	180	165
Tagalog	3,861	681	1,589	439
Other Pacific Island languages	1,881	587	1,120	387
Indonesian	1,345	509	845	335
Javanese	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Malay	245	190	175	174
Minangkabau	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Bisayan	25	23	(B)	-
Sebuano	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Ilocano	40	41	(B)	-
Pampangan	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Chamorro	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Marshallese	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Palau	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Melanesian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Maori	25	36	(B)	-
ALL OTHER LANGUAGES	21,048	2,082	6,787	1,050
Other Native North American languages	107	60	3	5
Algonquian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Ojibwa	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Kuchin	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Dakota	45	52	(B)	-
Muskogee	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Cherokee	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Hungarian	259	118	36	41
Arabic	8,770	1,425	3,092	580
Hebrew	2,332	540	358	147
African languages	9,301	1,143	3,127	771
Amharic	1,830	412	595	253
Berber	265	175	170	124
Chadic	90	84	(B)	-
Cushite	280	280	120	94
Swahili	305	148	155	119
Bantu	135	94	35	46
Mande	1,550	550	570	360
Fulani	1,010	612	680	497
Gur	170	261	130	198
Kru, Ibo, Yoruba	3,370	697	625	273
Efik	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
African	295	228	50	56
Other and unspecified languages	279	113	171	78
Finnish	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Caucasian	135	83	120	78
Mayan languages	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Oto - Manguen	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Uncodable	85	66	40	41

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.

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