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The Most Spoken Language in Every U.S. State (Besides English and Spanish)

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The-Most-Spoken-Language-Besides-English-Spanish-in-Every-State

The Most Spoken Language in Every U.S. State (Besides English and Spanish)

While 78% of Americans speak only English at home, between 350 and 430 languages can be found in the United States.

Spanish is the second most common language, spoken in 62% of non-English-speaking households.

In this graphic, WordFinderX used Census data to uncover the most spoken languages (aside from English and Spanish) in American neighborhoods.

German is the Most Spoken Language in 13 States

During the mid-18th century, German immigrants played a significant role in early American society. They constituted one-third of the population of American colonies, ranking second in numbers only to the English.

As a consequence, German now stands as the third most prevalent language in 13 states, with over 40 million Americans claiming German ancestry.

StateMost Spoken Language (Besides English and Spanish)
AlaskaAleut languages
AlabamaGerman
ArkansasGerman
ArizonaNavajo
CaliforniaChinese
ColoradoGerman
ConnecticutPortuguese
District of ColumbiaFrench
DelawareChinese
FloridaHaitian Creole
GeorgiaKorean
HawaiiJapanese
IowaArabic
IdahoGerman
IllinoisPolish
IndianaGerman
KansasChinese
KentuckyGerman
LouisianaFrench
MassachusettsPortuguese
MarylandFrench
MaineFrench
MichiganArabic
MinnesotaHmong
MissouriGerman
MississippiVietnamese
MontanaGerman
North CarolinaFrench
North DakotaGerman
NebraskaGerman
New HampshireFrench
New JerseyPortuguese
New MexicoNavajo
NevadaTagalog
New YorkChinese
OhioArabic
OklahomaVietnamese
OregonRussian
PennsylvaniaChinese
Rhode IslandPortuguese
South CarolinaFrench
South DakotaDakota languages
TennesseeArabic
TexasVietnamese
UtahPortuguese
VirginiaKorean
VermontFrench
WashingtonChinese
WisconsinGerman
West VirginiaGerman
WyomingGerman

From military aid to ideological support, France played a pivotal role in the success of the American Revolution. More than two centuries later, approximately 9.4 million people in the U.S. claim French or French-Canadian ancestry.

In the Midwest, French stands as the most spoken language (following English and Spanish) in four major cities.

The-Most-Spoken-Languages-by-City-Besides-English-Spanish-in-the-Midwestern-US

In the Midwest’s largest city, Chicago, Polish is the third-most common spoken language.

Asian Languages in the American West

The American West is home to 45% of all U.S. Asians, making Asian languages the most spoken in many cities, following English and Spanish.

Tagalog is the most spoken language in nine cities, ranging from Anchorage, Alaska, where half of the local Asian community is Filipino, to Las Vegas, Nevada, home to one of the largest Filipino-American communities in the country.

Chinese dominates in California and Washington, while Japanese ranks as the third most common language in Hawaii.

The Most Spoken Languages in New York

In the late 1800s, people worldwide chose to emigrate to the United States, leaving their homes due to crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine. Many also saw the U.S. as a land of economic opportunity.

More than 70% of all immigrants entered through New York City, which came to be known as the “Golden Door.

The-Most-Spoken-Languages-Besides-English-Spanish-in-New-York-City

As a result, the city today has an eclectic mix of languages.

While numerous languages across America thrive, some face imminent extinction. These include rare regional dialects, like the Pawpaw French in Minnesota, and indigenous languages.

According to the National Congress of American Indians, all surviving Native American languages are severely endangered, with over 90% of them at risk of extinction by 2050.

Various initiatives, including leveraging technology, have been proposed to ensure the preservation of the diverse cultures and languages in the U.S.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Environment

Ranked: The 15 Largest Countries in the World by Land Area

Ranking the top 15 by land area instead of total area produces some interesting results. Read why here.

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This graphic tracks the land area of the 15 largest countries in the world, as sourced from the World Bank.

Ranked: The 15 Largest Countries in the World by Land Area

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic ranks the 15 largest countries in the world, by land area. Data is sourced from the World Bank, last updated January, 2025.

ℹ️ Land area measures the total surface extent of a piece of land in square units. It does not include inland water bodies.

It also includes the share of forest and agricultural land per country. We explain how these metrics are calculated in later sections.

Canada Loses Out in Land Area

Russia is the largest country by land area (16.4 million km² / 6.2 million sq. miles), nearly double the size of second-ranked China (9.4 million km² / 3.6 million sq. miles ).

RankCountryLand Area (Sq. km)Land Area (Sq. miles)
1🇷🇺 Russia16.4M sq. km6.2M sq. miles
2🇨🇳 China9.4M sq. km3.6M sq. miles
3🇺🇸 U.S.9.2M sq. km3.5M sq. miles
4🇨🇦 Canada8.8M sq. km3.4M sq. miles
5🇧🇷 Brazil8.4M sq. km3.2M sq. miles
6🇦🇺 Australia7.7M sq. km3.0M sq. miles
7🇮🇳 India3.0M sq. km1.2M sq. miles
8🇦🇷 Argentina2.7M sq. km1.1M sq. miles
9🇰🇿 Kazakhstan2.7M sq. km1.0M sq. miles
10🇩🇿 Algeria2.4M sq. km920K sq. miles
11🇨🇩 DRC2.3M sq. km875K sq. miles
12🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia2.1M sq. km830K sq. miles
13🇲🇽 Mexico1.9M sq. km751K sq. miles
14🇮🇩 Indonesia1.9M sq. km731K sq. miles
15🇸🇩 Sudan1.9M sq. km721K sq. miles

Note: Source data converted to square miles.

But hold on, isn’t Canada supposed to be the second-largest country in the world? The answer is: it depends.

As previously mentioned, land area is a very specific term that doesn’t include area under lakes and rivers. As a result, Canada—where 9% of the total area is covered by freshwater—loses some ground to peers.

Per the World Bank, land area is an important estimation of a country’s agricultural ability and is used to track the environmental effects of human activity.

Most Countries Are Forests and Farmland

A benefit of measuring land area is seeing how much of a share forests and agricultural land take up.

In Russia, for example, nearly half of its entire area is covered by forests.

RankCountryForests (Share of
Land Area)
Agricultural LandOther Land
1🇷🇺 Russia50%13%37%
2🇨🇳 China24%55%21%
3🇺🇸 U.S.34%45%21%
4🇨🇦 Canada40%7%54%
5🇧🇷 Brazil59%27%14%
6🇦🇺 Australia17%47%35%
7🇮🇳 India24%60%16%
8🇦🇷 Argentina10%43%46%
9🇰🇿 Kazakhstan1%79%19%
10🇩🇿 Algeria1%17%82%
11🇨🇩 DRC55%16%30%
12🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia1%81%19%
13🇲🇽 Mexico34%49%17%
14🇮🇩 Indonesia48%30%22%
15🇸🇩 Sudan10%60%30%

Note: Other land is mixed-used terrain and includes residential areas. Sources: 1. Forests as a share of land area. 2. Agricultural land as a share of land area.

In China and the U.S. most of the land available is used for agriculture.

Speaking of agricultural land: Saudi Arabia has it listed at 81% of the land area. This is odd, since most of the country is a desert, with little precipitation, and not exactly suitable for farming.

A quick check of the metadata reveals that agricultural land is a self-reported figure and includes croplands, pastures, and land devoted to the rearing of animals.

In short, the country may have zoned or declared land as agricultural, even if it’s not used as such.

Also, Where Do Humans Live?

Over the last century, more and more of the human population has moved to cities.

As a result they’ve become hubs of economic growth, in turn attracting more people, and many of them are more populous than entire countries.

But cities don’t take up much room, especially compared to forests.

RankCountryUrban Land
(% of Land Area)
Urban Land (Sq. km)
1🇷🇺 Russia0.32%52,887
2🇨🇳 China5.56%522,345
3🇺🇸 U.S.2.04%186,573
4🇨🇦 Canada0.16%13,983
5🇧🇷 Brazil0.55%45,853
6🇦🇺 Australia0.16%11,946
7🇮🇳 India5.78%171,839
8🇦🇷 Argentina0.42%11,433
9🇰🇿 Kazakhstan0.24%6,363
10🇩🇿 Algeria0.39%9,357
11🇨🇩 DRC0.32%7,232
12🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia0.36%7,757
13🇲🇽 Mexico1.47%28,588
14🇮🇩 Indonesia3.58%67,755
15🇸🇩 Sudan0.20%3,790

Source: Urban land area.

In the top 15 ranks, China has the largest share of urban land (5%), as well as the most area built into cities.

Australia has the least share (0.16%) but Sudan has the smallest total city area (3,790 km2), as its people live mostly in the rural countryside.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Wondering what the largest cities in the world are? Check out: Ranked: All the Cities Larger Than NYC for another comparison chart.

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