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Which languages are spoken near your church? Look up any ZIP code
Look up home languages, speaker counts and English ability by ZIP code or county in the US and Puerto Rico only. These figures come from US Census Bureau ACS table C16001: the 2020-2024 release, published January 29, 2026.
Use it before you decide whether to offer translation, which language to start with, or where to put a sign that says "translation available".
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Look up your ZIP code or county
or choose a county
ZIP results use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs), statistical areas built from census blocks. Not every postal ZIP code has a ZCTA. If yours has no result, choose your county. You can copy a link to any result to share with your team.
What the three numbers mean
- People 5 and older: everyone the survey counts for this question. Children under 5 are not asked about language.
- Speak a language other than English at home: includes fluent bilingual speakers. Home language alone does not tell you whether someone wants translation.
- Speak English less than "very well": a threshold used for limited English proficiency in the Census handbook. Use this as a starting point for asking who needs language support, not a count of people who will use a translation service.
The language groups are the Census Bureau's own. Portuguese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Gujarati are counted in Other Indo-European; Japanese, Hmong, Khmer and Telugu in Other Asian and Pacific Island; Amharic, Somali, Hebrew and Navajo in Other and unspecified. If a group is large near you, ask your members which language within it they mean. (Census)
Which language to offer first
- Start by comparing groups with the most people who speak English less than "very well", rather than ranking only by total speakers. Then ask people which language support they want.
- Compare the result with who already comes. Ask your welcome team which languages they hear in the lobby, and whether visitors came once and did not return.
- Compare your ZIP result with the county result. Ask visitors which neighborhoods they travel from before deciding where to offer language support.
- Run a short test with a member who speaks the language before you announce it. The church setup guide covers a first service; the welcoming guide covers signs, greeters and follow-up. See pricing for the product's current terms.
Languages spoken at home in the United States
These national totals cover the 50 states and DC, excluding Puerto Rico. Nationwide, from the same Census table. The last column shows how many speakers of each group speak English less than "very well", and what share of the group that is.
| Language group | Speakers 5 and older | Share of everyone 5+ | Speak English less than "very well" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | 42,869,908 | 14% | 17,218,782 (40%) |
| Other Indo-European | 6,391,802 | 2% | 1,957,164 (31%) |
| Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese) | 3,549,780 | 1.1% | 1,815,921 (51%) |
| Other Asian and Pacific Island | 3,328,060 | 1.1% | 1,149,772 (35%) |
| Other and unspecified | 2,512,905 | 0.8% | 681,250 (27%) |
| Russian, Polish or other Slavic | 2,223,637 | 0.7% | 863,113 (39%) |
| French, Haitian or Cajun | 2,165,698 | 0.7% | 639,190 (30%) |
| Tagalog (incl. Filipino) | 1,778,009 | 0.6% | 540,724 (30%) |
| Vietnamese | 1,562,558 | 0.5% | 901,832 (58%) |
| German or other West Germanic | 1,468,337 | 0.5% | 330,195 (22%) |
| Arabic | 1,422,969 | 0.5% | 485,777 (34%) |
| Korean | 1,101,846 | 0.3% | 555,923 (50%) |
State by state
How many people in each state speak a language other than English at home, and the two largest language groups. The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are included.
| State | Speak a language other than English at home | Largest group | Second largest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 289,812 (6%) | Spanish 187,711 | Other Indo-European 19,122 |
| Alaska | 103,908 (15%) | Other and unspecified 26,242 | Spanish 22,437 |
| Arizona | 1,797,266 (26%) | Spanish 1,344,168 | Other and unspecified 135,459 |
| Arkansas | 238,660 (8.3%) | Spanish 176,128 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 21,271 |
| California | 16,478,816 (44%) | Spanish 10,513,931 | Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese) 1,291,832 |
| Colorado | 899,275 (16%) | Spanish 613,290 | Other Indo-European 53,147 |
| Connecticut | 804,451 (23%) | Spanish 439,949 | Other Indo-European 136,015 |
| Delaware | 146,244 (15%) | Spanish 76,483 | Other Indo-European 16,360 |
| District of Columbia | 122,363 (19%) | Spanish 60,423 | Other and unspecified 14,310 |
| Florida | 6,520,270 (31%) | Spanish 4,801,213 | French, Haitian or Cajun 568,351 |
| Georgia | 1,592,544 (15%) | Spanish 890,264 | Other Indo-European 164,520 |
| Hawaii | 336,810 (25%) | Other Asian and Pacific Island 158,909 | Tagalog (incl. Filipino) 60,236 |
| Idaho | 199,717 (11%) | Spanish 147,208 | Other Indo-European 9,514 |
| Illinois | 2,886,369 (24%) | Spanish 1,681,635 | Other Indo-European 309,058 |
| Indiana | 664,171 (10%) | Spanish 353,025 | German or other West Germanic 68,915 |
| Iowa | 276,143 (9.1%) | Spanish 140,635 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 29,908 |
| Kansas | 335,262 (12%) | Spanish 223,357 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 21,927 |
| Kentucky | 291,544 (6.8%) | Spanish 146,717 | Other Indo-European 23,501 |
| Louisiana | 366,868 (8.5%) | Spanish 201,847 | French, Haitian or Cajun 65,091 |
| Maine | 80,043 (6%) | French, Haitian or Cajun 30,924 | Spanish 13,107 |
| Maryland | 1,232,007 (21%) | Spanish 562,050 | Other and unspecified 146,303 |
| Massachusetts | 1,679,100 (25%) | Spanish 646,141 | Other Indo-European 405,619 |
| Michigan | 992,408 (10%) | Spanish 298,830 | Arabic 172,609 |
| Minnesota | 672,524 (12%) | Spanish 227,636 | Other and unspecified 141,910 |
| Mississippi | 118,835 (4.3%) | Spanish 73,687 | Other Indo-European 8,579 |
| Missouri | 391,604 (6.7%) | Spanish 169,451 | Other Indo-European 37,410 |
| Montana | 44,381 (4.2%) | Spanish 15,285 | German or other West Germanic 8,261 |
| Nebraska | 236,704 (13%) | Spanish 156,178 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 14,771 |
| Nevada | 886,585 (29%) | Spanish 600,083 | Tagalog (incl. Filipino) 89,719 |
| New Hampshire | 105,824 (7.9%) | Spanish 34,831 | Other Indo-European 18,515 |
| New Jersey | 2,922,137 (33%) | Spanish 1,514,828 | Other Indo-European 496,395 |
| New Mexico | 629,876 (31%) | Spanish 491,462 | Other and unspecified 90,577 |
| New York | 5,797,240 (31%) | Spanish 2,772,893 | Other Indo-European 754,295 |
| North Carolina | 1,362,533 (13%) | Spanish 876,033 | Other Indo-European 116,984 |
| North Dakota | 49,371 (6.7%) | Spanish 16,618 | Other and unspecified 8,609 |
| Ohio | 893,150 (8%) | Spanish 294,716 | Other Indo-European 134,460 |
| Oklahoma | 435,129 (12%) | Spanish 305,840 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 27,345 |
| Oregon | 616,287 (15%) | Spanish 365,276 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 42,955 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,529,209 (12%) | Spanish 686,810 | Other Indo-European 205,250 |
| Puerto Rico | 2,990,946 (95%) | Spanish 2,986,236 | French, Haitian or Cajun 1,234 |
| Rhode Island | 242,013 (23%) | Spanish 141,693 | Other Indo-European 42,736 |
| South Carolina | 418,840 (8.4%) | Spanish 262,999 | Other Indo-European 38,769 |
| South Dakota | 60,461 (7.1%) | Spanish 22,332 | Other and unspecified 15,511 |
| Tennessee | 574,403 (8.6%) | Spanish 348,679 | Other Indo-European 45,142 |
| Texas | 9,913,837 (35%) | Spanish 7,932,949 | Other Indo-European 489,279 |
| Utah | 503,069 (16%) | Spanish 345,046 | Other Indo-European 36,554 |
| Vermont | 34,135 (5.5%) | Spanish 8,063 | French, Haitian or Cajun 7,517 |
| Virginia | 1,432,901 (17%) | Spanish 649,137 | Other Indo-European 215,762 |
| Washington | 1,583,146 (21%) | Spanish 665,921 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 153,074 |
| West Virginia | 43,001 (2.5%) | Spanish 19,863 | Other Indo-European 5,380 |
| Wisconsin | 506,512 (9%) | Spanish 276,721 | Other Asian and Pacific Island 65,003 |
| Wyoming | 37,751 (6.8%) | Spanish 26,551 | German or other West Germanic 2,101 |
Where the numbers come from
- Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024 five-year table C16001, covering language spoken at home for people aged 5 and older. This release was published January 29, 2026. County names come from the 2024 county gazetteer.
- These are survey estimates, not a full count. The ± value beside each language group's speaker count is its published 90% margin of error. Margins for percentages and English-ability totals are not displayed. Small groups can have wide uncertainty; check the margin before interpreting a ranking.
- Five-year estimates pool responses collected from 2020 through 2024; they are not a snapshot of today. Recent neighborhood changes may not yet be reflected.
- The lookup does not save your entry. Your browser downloads a public file for the ZIP code's first three digits, or the selected state. Shared links include the ZIP or county. This site measures visits as described in the privacy policy. Public files include state data, county files by state and ZIP files by prefix.
Cite or link to this page
Denominations, mission agencies, diocesan multicultural offices and church-planting networks are welcome to link to this lookup from their own resources or to quote the tables with a link back. Please keep the Census Bureau as the named source.
HTML for a link
<a href="https://pewtranslate.com/en/guides/languages-spoken-by-zip-code">Languages spoken by ZIP code (US Census data, PewTranslate)</a>
Frequently asked questions
Is the lookup free?
Yes. There is nothing to sign up for, and you can share or link to any result.
Does it cover places outside the United States?
No. The American Community Survey covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Other countries publish similar census questions; ask your national statistics office.
Why does my ZIP code show no result?
A postal ZIP code is a delivery code; a ZCTA is a Census statistical area. Not every ZIP has a ZCTA, and this release may not include a newer ZIP. Check the five digits, including leading zeros, or choose your county.
How current is the data?
This page uses the 2020-2024 release, published January 29, 2026. New five-year estimates usually come out in December. This page does not update automatically; check the release named here before using the figures.
Which language should our church offer first?
Compare groups by the number who speak English less than "very well", check the margins of error, then ask members and visitors what support they want. Census groups are broad and do not measure church attendance or demand for translation.