In this article
About 74.1 million people in the United States, 23.0% of everyone age 5 and over, speak a language other than English at home, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2024. That is 9.2% more than in 2019. Spanish accounts for 44.9 million of them; the next largest are Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic.
Of these speakers, 28.9 million, or 39.1%, say they speak English less than "very well," the Census Bureau's measure of limited English proficiency (LEP). The table below lists all 42 languages and language groups the Census Bureau publishes, with the LEP share for each and the change since 2019.
Key figures
74.1 million
people speak a language other than English at home, 23.0% of everyone age 5 and over
28.9 million
of them speak English less than "very well"
9.2%
growth in speakers of other languages since 2019
42
languages and language groups in the Census Bureau table
All 42 languages and language groups, ranked by speakers
| Rank | Language | Speakers | Speak English less than "very well" | Change since 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | 44,867,699 | 41.1% | +7.4% |
| 2 | Chinese | 3,734,956 | 50.7% | +6.9% |
| 3 | Tagalog | 1,921,526 | 30.4% | +9.0% |
| 4 | Vietnamese | 1,599,409 | 57.4% | +1.8% (not significant) |
| 5 | Arabic | 1,484,439 | 34.6% | +17.8% |
| 6 | French | 1,276,702 | 21.9% | +9.0% |
| 7 | Korean | 1,150,701 | 49.2% | +7.0% |
| 8 | Portuguese | 1,099,503 | 35.8% | +30.0% |
| 9 | Hindi | 1,059,933 | 16.5% | +18.7% |
| 10 | Haitian Creole | 1,041,231 | 43.7% | +12.6% |
| 11 | Russian | 1,021,165 | 42.0% | +8.5% |
| 12 | German | 874,078 | 14.6% | -2.4% (not significant) |
| 13 | Yoruba, Twi, Igbo or other West African | 773,238 | 19.3% | +31.4% |
| 14 | Other Indo-European languages | 675,587 | 32.2% | +17.2% |
| 15 | Yiddish, Pennsylvania Dutch or other West Germanic | 650,320 | 34.6% | +16.1% |
| 16 | Amharic, Somali or other Afro-Asiatic | 638,785 | 37.4% | +8.3% |
| 17 | Telugu | 605,544 | 17.2% | +44.3% |
| 18 | Persian (Farsi, Dari) | 570,013 | 37.5% | +24.7% |
| 19 | Urdu | 561,196 | 26.4% | +7.9% |
| 20 | Other languages of Asia | 535,684 | 46.5% | +30.8% |
| 21 | Ukrainian or other Slavic | 532,662 | 43.7% | +65.5% |
| 22 | Polish | 508,512 | 36.5% | -0.4% (not significant) |
| 23 | Nepali, Marathi or other Indic | 508,113 | 32.4% | +21.7% |
| 24 | Italian | 507,347 | 21.4% | -6.0% |
| 25 | Ilocano, Samoan, Hawaiian or other Austronesian | 502,152 | 34.5% | +3.3% (not significant) |
| 26 | Bengali | 494,034 | 42.4% | +33.8% |
| 27 | Gujarati | 491,551 | 30.2% | +8.0% |
| 28 | Japanese | 471,742 | 38.0% | +3.7% (not significant) |
| 29 | Swahili or other Central, East and Southern African | 404,069 | 34.4% | +35.1% |
| 30 | Punjabi | 382,413 | 39.3% | +18.6% |
| 31 | Other and unspecified languages | 371,980 | 27.9% | +28.9% |
| 32 | Tamil | 359,838 | 13.8% | +22.4% |
| 33 | Malayalam, Kannada or other Dravidian | 325,060 | 21.3% | +22.1% |
| 34 | Thai, Lao or other Tai-Kadai | 301,051 | 51.2% | -4.6% (not significant) |
| 35 | Armenian | 267,904 | 40.9% | +13.1% |
| 36 | Greek | 258,908 | 22.8% | -2.0% (not significant) |
| 37 | Serbo-Croatian | 256,915 | 30.8% | +5.6% (not significant) |
| 38 | Hebrew | 243,747 | 13.5% | +15.6% |
| 39 | Hmong | 230,698 | 39.6% | +0.2% (not significant) |
| 40 | Khmer | 190,601 | 53.8% | -1.3% (not significant) |
| 41 | Other Native North American languages | 163,247 | 13.8% | -17.4% |
| 42 | Navajo | 136,580 | 27.9% | -20.3% |
Fastest-growing languages since 2019
Among languages and language groups with at least 100,000 speakers, these eight grew fastest between the 2019 and 2024 surveys.
| Language | 2019 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainian or other Slavic | 321,876 | 532,662 | +65.5% |
| Telugu | 419,768 | 605,544 | +44.3% |
| Swahili or other Central, East and Southern African | 299,156 | 404,069 | +35.1% |
| Bengali | 369,115 | 494,034 | +33.8% |
| Yoruba, Twi, Igbo or other West African | 588,574 | 773,238 | +31.4% |
| Other languages of Asia | 409,682 | 535,684 | +30.8% |
| Portuguese | 845,801 | 1,099,503 | +30.0% |
| Other and unspecified languages | 288,554 | 371,980 | +28.9% |
Spanish grew 7.4% and Arabic 17.8%. Only three languages declined by a statistically significant amount: Navajo, down 20.3%; other Native North American languages, down 17.4%; and Italian, down 6.0%.
How many speakers have limited English
The LEP share varies widely by language. Among languages with at least 500,000 speakers it is highest for Vietnamese (57.4%), Chinese (50.7%) and Korean (49.2%), and lowest for German (14.6%), Hindi (16.5%) and Telugu (17.2%). For Spanish it is 41.1%.
For where people with limited English live, by state and California county, see the LEP map. For each state's most common languages, see the most common language in every state after English and Spanish.
About the data
- Counts are people age 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, whatever their English ability.
- The comparison year is 2019 because the Census Bureau did not publish standard 1-year estimates for 2020; the 2020 collection was disrupted by the pandemic.
- Each "group" combines several languages. Yoruba, Twi and Igbo, for example, are reported together, so the true number of languages spoken in U.S. homes is far higher than 42.
- Figures are survey estimates with margins of error. The national figures here are large enough to be precise; small groups are less so.
SourcesU.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, table B16001, 2024 and 2019, retrieved October 24, 2026.