Languages spoken
at home, by state.
71,109,132 people in the United States, 22.5% of everyone aged five and older, speak a language other than English at home, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2023. Spanish is the largest by far, with 43,369,734 speakers, followed by Chinese (3,531,221), Tagalog (1,803,005), Vietnamese (1,570,595) and Arabic (1,423,225). The share is highest in California (45.0%), Texas (35.4%) and New Jersey (33.3%). For a business, these numbers describe the callers who may not follow an English-only greeting. The table below shows every state, the share who speak another language, and the largest single language group after Spanish.
Updated 25 September 2026Languages across the US
| Language group | Speakers | Share | English less than “very well” |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | 43,369,734 | 13.7% | 17,596,557 |
| Other Indo-European | 6,540,223 | 2.1% | 2,000,520 |
| Chinese | 3,531,221 | 1.1% | 1,819,877 |
| Other Asian and Pacific Island | 3,362,097 | 1.1% | 1,147,516 |
| Other | 2,558,066 | 0.8% | 679,199 |
| Russian, Polish or other Slavic | 2,230,848 | 0.7% | 901,393 |
| French, Haitian or Cajun | 2,167,933 | 0.7% | 657,659 |
| Tagalog | 1,803,005 | 0.6% | 544,023 |
| Vietnamese | 1,570,595 | 0.5% | 899,290 |
| German or West Germanic | 1,472,765 | 0.5% | 319,918 |
| Arabic | 1,423,225 | 0.4% | 483,682 |
| Korean | 1,079,420 | 0.3% | 557,162 |
The Census groups some languages together in this table. “Other Indo-European” includes Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian and others; “Other Asian and Pacific Island” includes Japanese, Hmong and others.
Every state
Sorted by the share of residents five and older who speak a language other than English at home. The last column names the largest single language group after Spanish.
| State | Other than English | Share | Spanish | Largest after Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 16,604,365 | 45.0% | 28.8% | Chinese (1,300,626) |
| Texas | 10,122,694 | 35.4% | 28.2% | Vietnamese (252,601) |
| New Jersey | 2,920,819 | 33.3% | 17.3% | Russian, Polish or other Slavic (146,738) |
| New Mexico | 637,588 | 31.7% | 24.9% | Tagalog (7,358) |
| New York | 5,738,521 | 31.0% | 14.8% | Chinese (594,473) |
| Florida | 6,627,637 | 30.8% | 22.6% | French, Haitian or Cajun (567,851) |
| Nevada | 906,623 | 30.0% | 20.6% | Tagalog (86,996) |
| Arizona | 1,826,507 | 25.9% | 19.2% | Chinese (31,890) |
| Massachusetts | 1,684,973 | 25.3% | 9.7% | Chinese (142,193) |
| Illinois | 2,883,843 | 24.3% | 14.1% | Russian, Polish or other Slavic (297,714) |
| Hawaii | 328,322 | 24.2% | 2.2% | Tagalog (58,838) |
| Connecticut | 820,383 | 23.9% | 13.0% | Russian, Polish or other Slavic (51,767) |
| Rhode Island | 242,452 | 23.2% | 14.3% | French, Haitian or Cajun (13,757) |
| Washington | 1,588,365 | 21.5% | 9.3% | Chinese (140,748) |
| Maryland | 1,251,305 | 21.5% | 9.9% | French, Haitian or Cajun (86,462) |
| District of Columbia | 123,958 | 19.4% | 8.9% | French, Haitian or Cajun (12,824) |
| Virginia | 1,469,018 | 17.8% | 8.1% | Arabic (64,746) |
| Colorado | 889,923 | 16.0% | 11.0% | Russian, Polish or other Slavic (33,275) |
| Delaware | 154,374 | 15.8% | 8.4% | French, Haitian or Cajun (9,046) |
| Georgia | 1,631,026 | 15.7% | 8.6% | Chinese (63,610) |
| Utah | 498,854 | 15.6% | 10.8% | Chinese (17,908) |
| Alaska | 103,234 | 15.0% | 3.6% | Tagalog (17,572) |
| Oregon | 603,806 | 15.0% | 9.4% | Chinese (34,260) |
| North Carolina | 1,411,694 | 13.8% | 8.7% | Chinese (42,561) |
| Pennsylvania | 1,598,408 | 13.0% | 5.9% | German or West Germanic (114,914) |
| Minnesota | 677,177 | 12.5% | 4.4% | Chinese (25,506) |
| Nebraska | 231,391 | 12.5% | 8.5% | Vietnamese (10,487) |
| Kansas | 335,274 | 12.1% | 8.2% | German or West Germanic (15,038) |
| Oklahoma | 433,645 | 11.4% | 8.0% | Vietnamese (18,331) |
| Idaho | 199,329 | 10.8% | 7.9% | Russian, Polish or other Slavic (7,304) |
| Michigan | 999,553 | 10.5% | 3.3% | Arabic (171,731) |
| Indiana | 674,732 | 10.4% | 5.4% | German or West Germanic (71,454) |
| Wisconsin | 518,533 | 9.3% | 5.0% | German or West Germanic (44,929) |
| Iowa | 271,655 | 9.0% | 4.8% | German or West Germanic (19,743) |
| Louisiana | 374,691 | 8.7% | 4.8% | French, Haitian or Cajun (62,378) |
| Tennessee | 584,378 | 8.7% | 5.3% | Arabic (30,510) |
| South Carolina | 429,955 | 8.5% | 5.3% | Russian, Polish or other Slavic (19,958) |
| New Hampshire | 112,191 | 8.4% | 2.6% | French, Haitian or Cajun (15,213) |
| Ohio | 912,387 | 8.2% | 2.8% | German or West Germanic (105,275) |
| Arkansas | 235,729 | 8.2% | 6.0% | German or West Germanic (7,998) |
| Wyoming | 41,115 | 7.4% | 5.1% | German or West Germanic (2,139) |
| South Dakota | 60,842 | 7.0% | 2.9% | German or West Germanic (4,316) |
| Missouri | 407,512 | 7.0% | 2.9% | German or West Germanic (31,129) |
| Kentucky | 284,447 | 6.7% | 3.5% | German or West Germanic (17,454) |
| North Dakota | 45,934 | 6.2% | 2.2% | German or West Germanic (7,105) |
| Alabama | 289,668 | 6.0% | 3.8% | Korean (12,461) |
| Maine | 76,432 | 5.7% | 0.9% | French, Haitian or Cajun (30,112) |
| Vermont | 34,953 | 5.6% | 1.4% | French, Haitian or Cajun (7,482) |
| Montana | 47,996 | 4.5% | 1.7% | German or West Germanic (8,267) |
| Mississippi | 119,555 | 4.3% | 2.6% | Chinese (6,055) |
| West Virginia | 41,366 | 2.5% | 1.2% | German or West Germanic (3,328) |
What it means for the phone
Our reading: a caller who has to fight through an English-only menu or voicemail often gives up and calls someone else. In states near the top of this table, a phone line that answers in the caller’s language is a real advantage for a small business.
Voxgard answers in 32 languages and switches mid-call: multilingual AI receptionist. Pages by language: Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Hindi.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023 1-year, table C16001
- Census API query, national
- Census API query, by state
Written by Voxgard, which makes an AI receptionist. The figures describe the market, not Voxgard’s results. Found an error? info@voxgard.com
Questions.
22.5%, or 71,109,132 people aged five and older (Census ACS 2023).
Spanish, with 43,369,734 speakers at home. Next is Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, with 3,531,221.
California, where 45.0% of residents five and older speak another language at home.
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