LOCALIZE IT: More US residents are speaking something other than English. See your state’s languages
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
New figures released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau show that 22% of U.S. residents spoke a language other than English at home.
California had the most speakers of a language other than English, while West Virginia had the smallest number.
Spanish was the top non-English language in every state except three — Hawaii, Maine and Vermont. But it’s the second-most common non-English languages spoken in each state that show off the diversity of the United States.
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READ AP’S STORY
From ‘Tudo bem?’ to ‘Gracias,’ a growing share of US residents speak a language other than English
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WHERE TO FIND THE DATA
The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday released two data tables that can be found here: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/language-use/2017-2021-lang-tables.html.
The first table, “Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over in the United States,” shows the number of people nationwide who speak any of the more than 500 languages and language groups listed in the spreadsheet.
The second table, “Top 15 Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English by State for the Population 5 Years and Over in the United States,” shows the 15 most common non-English languages spoken in each state. You can use this spreadsheet to see what languages are being spoken in your state.
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ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
The report “Language Use in the United States” will give you historical background: Language Use in the United States: 2019.
More information about the American Community Survey which is where the information on languages came from: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs.html.
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CONSIDER THESE REPORTING THREADS
— While Spanish speakers in the U.S. have grown by more than half over the past four decades, the number of speakers of German, Italian and Polish have dipped noticeably, reflecting changes in who migrates to the United States. Take a look in your state to see how the most common languages in your communities have changed over time and why. For instance, in Missouri, Bosnian didn’t register in 1980, but it was the seventh most common non-English language in 2021, primarily because St. Louis became a settlement hub for Bosnians fleeing an ethnic civil war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
— Native North American languages have declined 6% in the past eight years. Examine what, if any, languages have declined or staged a comeback in your states. Yiddish speaking, for instance, declined between 1980 and 2000, but the number of Yiddish speakers has increased in the 21st century.
— Among groups of non-English speakers in your state, look at the numbers of those who speak English “less than very well” (Column D in both tables). For instance, nationwide (shown in the first table), less than 15% of German speakers at home describe themselves as speaking English “less than very well,” but that figure is more than 40% for Russian speakers. (To get these percentages, divide the number in the Column D by the total number of German or Russian speakers). Why do some speakers of foreign languages speak English better than others? What resources are in your communities to help non-English speakers? Is there a difference in access or usage of resources by different groups?
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CAVEATS
The American Community Survey lists separately the various Chinese dialects (i.e. Mandarin, Cantonese). You may want to combine the categories to get a better sense of how widespread the language is in your state.
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Localize It is a reporting resource produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to the Local News Success team at localizeit@ap.org.
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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.
