U.S. Census Bureau

Language Use

Language Use, English Ability, and Linguistic Isolation data were collected in the 2000, 1990, and 1980 decennial censuses using a three-part series of questions:

A. Does this person speak a language other than English at home?
(For those who speak another language)
B. What is this language? ___________________________
C. How well does this person speak English? --very well, well, not well, not at all.

In earlier censuses the questions were about "mother tongue" (language spoken when the person was a child) or only for a select group (e.g., foreign born).

Detailed information from decennial censuses are listed below. More detail for states, metropolitan areas, and more specific geographies is available in the American FactFinder.

Definitions and explanations, see Language Spoken at Home and English Ability in Summary File 3 - Technical Documentation [PDF 7.1M]

  1. Census 2000

    1. Report -- Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000 (C2KBR-29)
    2. Press Release
    3. Summary Tables on Language Use and English Ability: 2000 (PHC-T 20)
    4. Summary File 3 (SF3)
    5. 2000 Language Code List [PDF 18k]
    6. Detailed Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over (STP224) [EXCEL 72M]
    7. Language Spoken at Home for the Citizen Population 18 Years and Over Who Speak English Less Than "Very Well" (STP194) [EXCEL 866k]
    8. Ability to Speak English by Language Spoken at Home (PHC-T-37)
    9. America Speaks: A Demographic Profile of Foreign-Language Speakers for the United States: 2000 (PHC-T 42)

  2. 1990 Census

    1. Summary Tables on Language Use and English Ability: 1990 (from CPH-L-96 and CPH-L-133)

  3. Related Reports

    1. How Good is "How Well"? An Examination of the Census English-Speaking Ability Question [PDF 599k]
    2. Language Use and Linguistic Isolation: Historical Data and Methodological Issues [PDF 221k]

  4. Presentations

    1. Language Needs of School-Age Children. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America. April 16-19, 2008.
      Paper [DOC 46k] |  Tables [EXCEL 3.1M] |  Poster [PDF 936k]  |  Presentation [PPT 82k]
    2. Language Data from the American Community Survey
      Presentation [PPT 219k] Webinar Transcript [PDF 70k] |  Webinar [WMV 11.2M]

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau,
Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division
Questions? / 1-866-758-1060

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