Most Americans Speak Only English at Home or Speak English “Very Well”
Over three-quarters (78.3%) of the nation age 5 and older spoke only English at home, according to newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. This is a decrease from 78.7% in 2013-2017, the most recent nonoverlapping five-year period.
Among those that spoke a language other than English in 2018-2022, Spanish (61.1%), Chinese (which includes all dialects) (5.1%), and Tagalog (including Filipino) (2.5%) were the three most spoken languages at home. Among the population age 5 and older that spoke a language other than English at home, 61.0% of Spanish speakers, 48.2% of Chinese speakers (which includes all dialects), and 69.8% of Tagalog (including Filipino) speakers spoke English “very well.”
"English remains the most commonly spoken language," said Adrienne Griffiths, survey statistician in the Education and Social Stratification Branch. “Across most age groups, the majority of the population who spoke a language other than English at home still spoke English very well.”
Additional estimates from the 2018-2022 ACS were also released today and are available for all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, all congressional districts and metropolitan statistical areas, counties, places, census tracts, ZIP code tabulation areas, and block groups.
Continue reading for data highlights.Â
 đź“° New on America Counts
The U.S. national poverty rate declined significantly to 12.5% during the 5-year period from 2018 to 2022, according to American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates released today.
The rate was down from 14.6% during 2013-2017, the most recent nonoverlapping 5-year period.
Comparing the 2013-2017 and 2018-2022 5-year estimates offers a longer-term look at national and local economic trends. The ACS 5-year estimates differ from the 1-year estimates released in September because they pool five consecutive years of 1-year ACS data, allowing Census Bureau researchers to estimate poverty rates for areas with smaller populations and all 3,144 U.S. counties.
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