Language spoken at home by citizenship status

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Immigration in the U.S.
DACA and DAPA
Admission of refugees
Birthright citizenship

Immigration can impact the social make-up of a state's population, especially regarding such factors as marriage, education, and language. The following charts give basic information about language spoken at home among native-born citizens, naturalized citizens, and non-citizens in the United States.

Native-born citizen refers to anyone born in the United States, Puerto Rico, or a United States territory or born abroad to citizen parents. The foreign-born population refers to "anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth," including naturalized citizens. Naturalized citizen refers to anyone born as a citizen of another country who fulfilled the requirements to become a United States citizen. Non-citizen refers to anyone residing in the United States who is not a citizen. According to the United States Census Bureau, "[n]oncitizens include legal permanent residents, temporary migrants, unauthorized immigrants and other resident statuses."

Note: This page provides data from the American Community Survey (ACS), conducted annually by the United States Census Bureau, on demographics, economic factors, and social factors for the native, naturalized, and non-citizen populations. The ACS refers to immigrants, both naturalized citizens and non-citizens, as the "foreign-born population." The ACS defines those labeled as "non-citizens" as "respondents who indicated that they were not U.S. citizens at the time of the survey." The term "non-citizens" does not distinguish between those who are residing in the country with or without legal permission.

Language spoken at home

Conor Williams, founding director of New America's Dual Language Learners National Work Group, wrote in December 2015 that language barriers and education are major issues for immigration policy. Because many of the children of immigrants are citizens, "English language learners are one of the fastest growing groups in American schools" and "many schools are struggling to update their instructional models to support these students' linguistic and academic development." The traditional model of schooling—where everyone receives the same education—may be impacted when a substantial percentage of students speak a language other than English at home.

In 2014, about 79.1 of the United States population spoke only English at home, while 20.9 spoke a language other than English. These figures varied significantly across the country, from West Virginia—where 98.6 percent of residents spoke only English at home—to New Mexico—where 63.8 of residents spoke only English at home. Nationwide, 89.3 percent of native-born citizens spoke only English at home, while 11.1 percent of non-citizens did so.

Language spoken at home by citizenship status, 2014
State	Language	Total	Native	Naturalized	Non-citizen
Alabama	English only	94.8%	97.6%	34.8%	12.5%
	Other language	5.2%	2.4%	65.2%	87.5%
Alaska	English only	83.8%	89.1%	23.6%	14.0%
	Other language	16.2%	10.9%	76.4%	86.0%
Arizona	English only	73.2%	82.8%	22.5%	11.6%
	Other language	26.8%	17.2%	77.5%	88.4%
Arkansas	English only	92.9%	96.7%	28.1%	14.3%
	Other language	7.1%	3.3%	71.9%	85.7%
California	English only	56.2%	75.1%	13.0%	6.9%
	Other language	43.8%	24.9%	87.0%	93.1%
Colorado	English only	83.1%	90.8%	26.4%	10.4%
	Other language	16.9%	9.2%	73.6%	89.6%
Connecticut	English only	78.4%	87.6%	29.8%	16.8%
	Other language	21.6%	12.4%	70.2%	83.2%
Delaware	English only	87.3%	93.6%	29.6%	15.2%
	Other language	12.7%	6.4%	70.4%	84.8%
District of Columbia	English only	83.5%	92.5%	37.2%	28.0%
	Other language	16.5%	7.5%	62.8%	72.0%
Florida	English only	72.2%	85.9%	23.2%	15.4%
	Other language	27.8%	14.1%	76.8%	84.6%
Georgia	English only	86.6%	94.4%	28.4%	12.4%
	Other language	13.4%	5.6%	71.6%	87.6%
Hawaii	English only	74.7%	88.6%	18.4%	12.4%
	Other language	25.3%	11.4%	81.6%	87.6%
Idaho	English only	89.4%	94.2%	29.3%	13.3%
	Other language	10.6%	5.8%	70.7%	86.7%
Illinois	English only	77.5%	89.1%	14.4%	7.0%
	Other language	22.5%	10.9%	85.6%	93.0%
Indiana	English only	91.8%	95.7%	28.3%	11.0%
	Other language	8.2%	4.3%	71.7%	89.0%
Iowa	English only	92.6%	96.4%	29.3%	12.3%
	Other language	7.4%	3.6%	70.7%	87.7%
Kansas	English only	88.9%	94.7%	23.7%	9.5%
	Other language	11.1%	5.3%	76.3%	90.5%
Kentucky	English only	95.0%	97.8%	31.4%	13.6%
	Other language	5.0%	2.2%	68.6%	86.4%
Louisiana	English only	91.4%	94.7%	22.2%	12.8%
	Other language	8.6%	5.3%	77.8%	87.2%
Maine	English only	93.3%	95.2%	47.2%	35.5%
	Other language	6.7%	4.8%	52.8%	64.5%
Maryland	English only	83.1%	93.8%	27.1%	18.4%
	Other language	16.9%	6.2%	72.9%	81.6%
Massachusetts	English only	77.8%	89.1%	22.4%	14.5%
	Other language	22.2%	10.9%	77.6%	85.5%
Michigan	English only	90.9%	95.7%	27.0%	16.2%
	Other language	9.1%	4.3%	73.0%	83.8%
Minnesota	English only	89.1%	95.0%	26.4%	14.3%
	Other language	10.9%	5.0%	73.6%	85.7%
Mississippi	English only	96.1%	98.0%	32.0%	13.9%
	Other language	3.9%	2.0%	68.0%	86.1%
Missouri	English only	93.9%	97.2%	27.4%	12.8%
	Other language	6.1%	2.8%	72.6%	87.2%
Montana	English only	95.8%	96.8%	59.1%	42.6%
	Other language	4.2%	3.2%	40.9%	57.4%
Nebraska	English only	89.3%	95.0%	21.1%	7.6%
	Other language	10.7%	5.0%	78.9%	92.4%
Nevada	English only	70.3%	85.1%	16.6%	8.7%
	Other language	29.7%	14.9%	83.4%	91.3%
New Hampshire	English only	92.1%	95.8%	39.0%	23.7%
	Other language	7.9%	4.2%	61.0%	76.3%
New Jersey	English only	69.7%	85.5%	20.1%	10.9%
	Other language	30.3%	14.5%	79.9%	89.1%
New Mexico	English only	63.8%	70.1%	17.5%	6.7%
	Other language	36.2%	29.9%	82.5%	93.3%
New York	English only	69.8%	84.0%	29.0%	18.5%
	Other language	30.2%	16.0%	71.0%	81.5%
North Carolina	English only	88.9%	95.3%	28.9%	10.7%
	Other language	11.1%	4.7%	71.1%	89.3%
North Dakota	English only	94.6%	96.6%	39.2%	28.3%
	Other language	5.4%	3.4%	60.8%	71.7%
Ohio	English only	93.3%	96.5%	29.1%	16.3%
	Other language	6.7%	3.5%	70.9%	83.7%
Oklahoma	English only	90.4%	95.2%	25.0%	9.0%
	Other language	9.6%	4.8%	75.0%	91.0%
Oregon	English only	85.1%	92.9%	28.1%	11.6%
	Other language	14.9%	7.1%	71.9%	88.4%
Pennsylvania	English only	89.5%	94.1%	28.0%	17.5%
	Other language	10.5%	5.9%	72.0%	82.5%
Rhode Island	English only	78.9%	88.7%	21.2%	12.4%
	Other language	21.1%	11.3%	78.8%	87.6%
South Carolina	English only	93.1%	96.9%	36.2%	14.4%
	Other language	6.9%	3.1%	63.8%	85.6%
South Dakota	English only	93.3%	95.6%	35.0%	13.5%
	Other language	6.7%	4.4%	65.0%	86.5%
Tennessee	English only	93.2%	97.2%	27.7%	11.9%
	Other language	6.8%	2.8%	72.3%	88.1%
Texas	English only	65.1%	77.1%	14.2%	6.5%
	Other language	34.9%	22.9%	85.8%	93.5%
Utah	English only	85.4%	92.4%	26.1%	11.7%
	Other language	14.6%	7.6%	73.9%	88.3%
Vermont	English only	94.7%	97.2%	48.0%	31.7%
	Other language	5.3%	2.8%	52.0%	68.3%
Virginia	English only	84.8%	94.3%	21.9%	12.4%
	Other language	15.2%	5.7%	78.1%	87.6%
Washington	English only	81.2%	91.7%	23.0%	12.9%
	Other language	18.8%	8.3%	77.0%	87.1%
West Virginia	English only	97.6%	98.6%	42.8%	24.2%
	Other language	2.4%	1.4%	57.2%	75.8%
Wisconsin	English only	91.4%	95.1%	29.8%	11.6%
	Other language	8.6%	4.9%	70.2%	88.4%
Wyoming	English only	93.1%	95.7%	35.1%	17.3%
	Other language	6.9%	4.3%	64.9%	82.7%
United States	English only	79.1%	89.3%	20.9%	11.1%
	Other language	20.9%	10.7%	79.1%	88.9%
Source: United States Census Bureau, "Selected Characteristics of the Native and Foreign-Born Populations"

See also

• 

  U.S. Customs and Border Protection

• 

  State educational attainment rates by citizenship status

• 

  State marriage rates by citizenship status

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
• Office of Foreign Labor Certification

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