Census data shows a record 67.3 million people in the US speak a foreign language at home, including more than half of people in 90 cities
- New study shows highest number ever of foreign language speakers at home
- The number has nearly tripled since 1980, and more than doubled since 1990
- Now 21.9 percent of U.S. residents speak a foreign language at home
- Since 1980, the number who speak a foreign language at home grew nearly seven times faster than the number who speak only English at home
A record 67.3 million people living in the U.S. speak a language other than English in the home, according to a new analysis of Census data.
The number of at-home foreign language speakers has nearly tripled since 1980, and more than doubled since 1990, according to an analysis of the data released on Tuesday by the Center for Immigration Studies.
As a share of the population, 21.9% of U.S. residents speak a foreign language at home — more than double the 11% in 1980.
Since 1980, the number who speak a foreign language at home grew nearly seven times faster than the number who speak only English at home, the data shows.
An immigrant family in Alabama is seen in a file photo. Census data shows that a record 67.3 million U.S. residents speak a language other than English in the home
In 2018, there were 90 U.S. cities with populations of at least 63,000 in which a majority of residents spoke a foreign language at home, according to the analysis.
Cities where most residents do not speak English at home included Hialeah, Florida and Laredo, Texas at 89% each, East Los Angeles at 88% and Passaic, New Jersey at 78%.
The states with the largest share of their populations speaking a foreign language at home in 2018 were California at 45%, Texas at 36%, New Mexico at 34%, New Jersey at 32%, New York and Nevada, each at 31%.
States with the largest percentage increase in those speaking a foreign language at home from 1980 to 2018 are Nevada (up 1,088%), Georgia (up 952%), North Carolina (up 802%), Virginia (up 488%) and, Tennessee (up 459%).
This table shows the number of people in each state who speak a foreign language at home, ranked by the rate of growth in foreign language speakers since 1980
Across America’s five largest cities, just under half of total residents now speak a language other than English at home.
In New York City it is 49%; in Los Angeles it is 59%; in Chicago it is 36%; in Houston it is 50%; and in Phoenix it is 38%.
The data shows that there are now more people who speak Spanish at home in the United States than in any country in Latin America with the exception of Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina.
Foreign languages with more than a million people who speaking them at home in 2018 were Spanish (41.5 million), Chinese (3.5 million), Tagalog (1.8 million), Vietnamese (1.5 million), Arabic (1.3 million), French (1.2 million), and Korean (1.1 million).
All language figures in Census Bureau data are for persons five years of age and older.