Languages spoken in New Jersey

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 New Jersey

Table showing languages spoken in New Jersey

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	8,294,499	235	1,026,943	7,818
Speak only English at home	5,804,858	9,551	(X)	(X)
Speak a language other than English at home	2,489,641	9,534	1,026,943	7,818
SPANISH AND SPANISH CREOLE	1,277,011	5,690	593,496	5,152
Spanish	1,277,000	5,689	593,490	5,153
Ladino	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES	706,079	8,627	244,051	4,416
French (incl Patois, Cajun)	37,885	1,706	8,791	677
French	35,985	1,674	8,330	648
Patois	1,900	418	460	225
French Creole	44,092	2,438	19,066	1,430
Italian	78,856	2,467	23,863	1,312
Portuguese (incl Portuguese Creole)	84,180	3,040	39,213	1,946
Portuguese	84,160	3,038	39,215	1,946
Papia Mentae	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
German (incl Luxembourgian)	27,412	1,353	4,258	509
German	27,405	1,356	4,260	509
Luxembourgian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Yiddish	6,587	958	492	131
Other West Germanic languages	3,615	618	308	135
Pennsylvania Dutch	50	56	(B)	-
Dutch	3,020	501	295	132
Afrikaans	540	256	(D)	(D)
Frisian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Scandinavian languages	3,222	473	232	103
Swedish	1,255	262	55	46
Danish	920	291	25	22
Norwegian	970	214	145	89
Icelandic	75	58	(D)	(D)
Greek	20,843	1,562	5,113	640
Russian	44,795	2,255	18,888	1,368
Polish	66,346	2,552	28,828	1,481
Serbo-Croatian languages	8,967	891	3,361	481
Serbocroatian	2,540	668	1,130	406
Croatian	3,490	635	1,145	291
Serbian	2,935	560	1,085	278
Other Slavic languages	21,382	1,397	8,390	884
Bielorussian	60	67	(B)	-
Ukrainian	11,070	1,025	4,400	556
Czech	1,255	323	385	193
Slovak	3,540	669	1,430	394
Bulgarian	2,030	560	645	281
Macedonian	3,275	613	1,470	364
Slovene	150	71	65	40
Armenian	5,351	736	1,874	355
Persian	8,944	1,163	2,822	447
Hindi	63,342	2,612	13,820	1,257
Gujarati	75,414	2,820	30,279	1,860
Urdu	27,961	2,132	7,907	928
Other Indic languages	54,525	2,426	18,897	1,363
India nec3	8,945	1,212	3,650	632
Bengali	18,165	1,460	6,845	768
Panjabi	13,990	1,453	5,555	809
Marathi	8,250	988	920	241
Bihari	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Oriya	600	312	95	108
Assamese	135	136	(B)	-
Kashmiri	295	237	85	96
Nepali	805	269	380	165
Sindhi	1,080	298	90	61
Pakistan nec3	1,155	522	820	402
Sinhalese	1,070	342	460	244
Romany	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Other Indo-European languages	22,360	1,868	7,649	864
Jamaican Creole	2,235	650	975	399
Krio	455	246	210	181
Pidgin	255	289	195	266
Catalonian	105	79	(D)	(D)
Romanian	5,285	924	1,805	416
Welsh	80	58	(B)	-
Irish Gaelic	1,085	266	150	80
Scottic Gaelic	120	85	(B)	-
Albanian	8,935	1,306	3,070	515
Lithuanian	1,740	456	460	166
Latvian	835	227	185	113
Pashto	1,085	629	535	357
Kurdish	150	180	(D)	(D)
ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES	386,540	4,453	153,738	3,172
Chinese (incl Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages4)	111,151	3,967	50,560	2,420
Chinese	78,860	3,311	36,345	1,907
Hakka	50	43	15	24
Cantonese	8,845	1,129	3,365	603
Mandarin	19,115	1,457	8,515	822
Fuchow	190	149	190	149
Formosan	3,955	658	2,060	362
Wu	140	94	70	72
Japanese	12,032	959	5,745	668
Korean	76,224	2,909	39,333	1,819
Mon-Khmer, Cambodian	745	325	497	234
Hmong	15	17	(B)	-
Thai	2,920	517	1,447	367
Laotian	244	131	124	95
Vietnamese	20,704	1,889	12,411	1,183
Other Asian languages	76,419	2,607	19,732	1,323
Kazakh	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Karachay	45	64	(D)	(D)
Uighur	180	114	(D)	(D)
Turkish	13,235	1,199	5,780	682
Mongolian	225	165	45	35
Dravidian	220	207	(B)	-
Gondi	155	124	(D)	(D)
Telugu	25,940	1,623	6,000	740
Kannada	5,325	841	1,015	385
Malayalam	9,555	1,032	2,350	439
Tamil	19,835	1,623	3,605	729
Munda	200	126	(D)	(D)
Tibetan	125	87	(D)	(D)
Burmese	1,310	405	730	282
Karen	60	133	50	120
Tagalog	81,134	3,400	21,973	1,497
Other Pacific Island languages	4,952	711	1,916	443
Indonesian	1,740	458	815	283
Balinese	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Javanese	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Malay	310	156	95	67
Bisayan	930	283	315	131
Sebuano	665	212	190	88
Ilocano	590	208	190	124
Pampangan	300	283	225	291
Chamorro	85	58	(B)	-
Kusaiean	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Trukese	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Melanesian	125	114	(D)	(D)
Samoan	75	76	35	44
Tongan	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Hawaiian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
ALL OTHER LANGUAGES	120,011	3,587	35,658	1,827
Other Native North American languages	814	337	220	143
Aleut	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Cree	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Delaware	50	44	(B)	-
Micmac	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Ojibwa	95	115	(D)	(D)
Ottawa	190	252	(D)	(D)
Shawnee	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Kuchin	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Santiam	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Karok	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Delta River Yuman	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Walapai	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Keres	20	19	(D)	(D)
Mohawk	55	44	(D)	(D)
Cherokee	25	26	(B)	-
Tewa	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
American Indian	155	127	(D)	(D)
Hungarian	6,296	633	2,280	356
Arabic	59,729	2,992	21,782	1,517
Hebrew	15,800	1,088	1,773	386
African languages	33,165	1,971	7,812	750
Amharic	1,780	417	475	185
Berber	320	257	235	228
Chadic	295	143	105	85
Cushite	70	52	35	29
Sudanic	90	98	(D)	(D)
Nilotic	30	36	(B)	-
Swahili	3,300	590	775	316
Bantu	1,170	380	205	98
Mande	1,370	476	435	240
Fulani	735	266	120	100
Gur	180	133	45	48
Kru, Ibo, Yoruba	23,035	1,748	5,155	658
Efik	170	122	40	53
African	610	261	155	103
Other and unspecified languages	4,207	673	1,791	334
Finnish	475	188	80	59
Estonian	575	194	155	84
Caucasian	1,660	458	755	234
Basque	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Syriac	1,035	441	515	226
Aztecan	75	111	55	83
Mayan languages	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Oto - Manguen	65	59	50	54
Quechua	125	92	125	92
Arawakian	80	62	(D)	(D)
Chibchan	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Tupi-Guarani	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Uncodable	70	42	(B)	-

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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