Top 15 languages spoken in US homes besides English

The United States (US) is currently experiencing a major change to its linguistic landscape, with approximately 67 million people speaking languages other than English within their homes. The US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey indicates that this number has increased by more than threefold since 1980, indicating a significant shift in US demographic and migration patterns. Pew Research highlights that Spanish continues to be the most commonly spoken, after English, in the United States, and South and East Asian languages have become the fastest-growing groups as well.

The rapid rise in all of these languages and many others is attributed to shifting immigration patterns, while also revealing that many languages, such as Chinese, Tagalog and Hindi, have become a part of American daily life. This creates a complex, multi-layered multicultural community throughout the diverse states of our country.

15 most spoken languages in US homes besides English

Spanish is by far the most prevalent language other than English in the US, with around 41.2 million people who speak it. Another 13% of homes in the US primarily speak Spanish, and this can be seen mostly in California, Texas, and Florida, where Spanish is also a significant part of the very fabric of society, including media, business, and everyday life.

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Chinese has been consistently increasing, with Chinese languages currently in use by approximately 3.4 million people. Mandarin Chinese is becoming more widely used, especially within the tech and educational sectors. The two primary cultural and economic hubs for Chinese speakers remain in the United States, where Chinese languages, and particularly Mandarin, are widely used; those places are San Francisco, CA and New York City.

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Tagalog is the third most prevalent non-English language in the US, with around 1.7 million speakers. Economic opportunities and a high demand for skilled labour have driven a large number of immigrants from the Philippines to the US, and the majority of these people work in the healthcare and service industries. California and Hawaii are the locations with the largest concentration of Tagalog-speaking households in the country.

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Around 1.5 million people in the US speak Vietnamese at home. Over the last two decades, many Vietnamese-speaking communities have taken root in Texas and California. In cities like Westminster, California and Houston, Texas, Vietnamese is used as the predominant language on business and community signage.

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Arabic has become one of America’s fastest-rising languages to speak, with approximately 1.4 million speakers currently across the US. Although Arabic is highly dispersed throughout America, it is most concentrated in Michigan; Dearborn currently holds the highest percentage of Arabic speakers in the country.

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Another widely spoken language within the United States is French or French Creole, with approximately 1.2 million Americans now speaking French or French Creole. Standard French is typically heard in the northeastern portion of the US, whereas Louisiana has traditionally been regarded as the centre of Cajun French culture. In addition to this, the recent increase in the number of Haitian Creole speakers found in Florida has helped maintain French as one of the top five language groups based on the total number of speakers.

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Korean has also become a large cultural influence in America, with approximately 1.1 million Americans speaking the Korean language, particularly in urban centres such as Los Angeles and Atlanta. Due to the rise of ‘K-Town’ and its popularity with newer immigrant communities, Korean has emerged as a key language to use for commerce within various industries such as beauty, food and entertainment.

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With at least 937,000 speakers across the US, there have been significant increases in both the number of speakers and the number of communities using Portuguese as their primary language, particularly in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Florida. The steady growth of both Brazilian and Portuguese-speaking communities within the above-mentioned states has enabled Portuguese to be the dominant language spoken in many coastal New England communities.

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Russian is spoken by approximately 936,000 people. It continues to be an important language within the US, mainly due to the post-Soviet population. In New York City, Brighton Beach (‘Little Odessa’) is still an area where Russian is widely used, as well as communities in California and Washington.

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Hindi remains one of the fastest-growing languages in the US Census, joined by Telugu as a dominant South Asian linguistic force according to the Census Bureau. With over 900,000 speakers today, much of this growth has occurred in IT-heavy states such as New Jersey, California, and Illinois as a direct effect of professional migrations from India.

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German is a historic language spoken in the USA and is still present with nearly 890,000 speakers. There has been an overall decline in daily use among the general population, but there are still significant numbers of people who speak German as a primary language in many of the Amish and Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania and throughout the Midwest.

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Italian is one of the most-spoken languages in the United States, with around 540,000 speakers; however, the number of speakers is declining as the older generations pass away. Nevertheless, there remains a culturally significant Italian population in many of the Northeast regions, including New York, New Jersey, and the Little Italy neighbourhoods of Pennsylvania.

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Polish is used by roughly 500,000 individuals. The main city is Chicago, often referred to as having one of the largest populations of Polish speakers outside of Warsaw. Polish continue to play an essential role in both community-based radio stations and in newspapers throughout the Great Lakes area.

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Approximately 430,000 Japanese individuals speak it at home, with most residing in either Hawaii or California, reflecting deep-rooted, multi-generational communities alongside a steady corporate presence. Japanese is more closely associated with long-term, multi-generational resident roots and with multinational companies where large business centres are located.

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Persian has 415,000 speakers. Los Angeles is home to the largest number of Persian speakers - the area is frequently referred to as ‘Tehrangeles’. In Southern California, Persian is an important language for an active, creative community that includes authors, small business owners and artists.

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