New Delhi: There are many spoken languages in the world, and every country has its own language. Some countries have an official language, and some don’t. There is no official language in the United States of America (USA). But the most spoken language is English. American greatness comes from a rich mix of cultures and people. Integration without absorption is important in the US, as it helps explain the various languages heard nationwide.
A US census shows how often different languages are spoken, highlighting the nation’s diversity. In this article, we list the most languages spoken in the US, per a US Census Bureau record of 2017-2021.
List of top 9 most spoken languages in the USA
- English: 245 million
- Spanish: 41.3 million
- Chinese: 3.4 million
- Tagalog: 1.72 million
- Vietnamese: 1.52 million
- Arabic: 1.39 million
- French: 1.18 million
- Korean: 1.07 million
- Russian: 1.04 million
Source: World Atlas (as per a US Census Bureau record of 2017-2021)
Over 30 states and all five US territories have declared English an official language. As of 2023, 77.5 per cent of people in the US speak only English. The rest speak various other languages at home. Most notably, 13.7 per cent of the population speaks Spanish, according to the American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau.
Other languages include those spoken by Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and people from US territories. Many languages have come from Europe, Africa, Asia, other parts of the Americas, and Oceania. This includes different dialects, creole languages, pidgin languages, and sign languages developed in the US. Interlingua, an international auxiliary language, was also created in the US.
There is a difference between American English and British English in terms of grammar, spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary and slang usage.
People speaking Spanish made up about three-fifths of all speakers of languages other than English in the US in 2023.
What are the most spoken Indian Languages in the US?
As the Indian-American population grows, the linguistic landscape of the US has been enriched by the different languages of the Indian subcontinent. Let us look at the top most spoken Indian languages in the US.
- Hindi
- Gujarati
- Telugu
- Bengali
- Tamil
- Punjabi
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