Languages spoken in Polk County, IA

In October 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau released the "2009-2013 American Community Survey" which provides information on "languages spoken at home" and "ability to speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over" for the United States as a whole, states including Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., selected counties, and selected cities and urban areas. The following provides aggregated survey information on languages spoken in Polk County [IA]

Table showing languages spoken in Polk County, IA

Population 5 years and over
Speak only English at home
Speak a language other than English at home
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

French (incl. Patois, Cajun)

French Creole

Italian

Portuguese (incl. Portuguese Creole)

German (incl. Luxembourgian)

Yiddish

Other West Germanic languages

Scandinavian languages

Greek

Russian

Polish

Serbo-Croatian languages

Other Slavic languages

Other Indic languages

Other Indo-European languages

ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES

Chinese (incl. Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages)

Other Asian languages

Tagalog

Other Pacific Island languages

ALL OTHER LANGUAGES

Navajo

Other Native North American languages

Other and unspecified languages

BY STATE
BY COUNTY
BY CITY

Language	Number of speakers	Margin of Error	Speak English less than "Very Well"	Margin of Error
Population 5 years and over	405,669	13	23,380	1,196
Speak only English at home	355,086	1,890	(X)	(X)
Speak a language other than English at home	50,583	1,890	23,380	1,196
SPANISH AND SPANISH CREOLE	24,517	1,024	12,026	801
Spanish	24,515	1,024	12,025	801
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES	10,373	1,178	4,011	655
French (incl Patois, Cajun)	1,003	271	179	97
French	1,005	271	180	97
Italian	352	138	72	47
Portuguese (incl Portuguese Creole)	55	36	23	30
Portuguese	55	36	25	30
German (incl Luxembourgian)	1,004	336	219	126
German	1,005	336	220	126
Yiddish	4	6	4	6
Other West Germanic languages	54	45	24	21
Dutch	55	45	25	21
Scandinavian languages	107	60	20	26
Swedish	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Danish	80	57	(D)	(D)
Norwegian	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Greek	34	32	14	21
Russian	515	194	271	116
Polish	210	103	93	63
Serbo-Croatian languages	4,452	890	2,075	475
Serbocroatian	4,170	872	1,935	462
Croatian	115	104	90	111
Serbian	165	121	55	51
Other Slavic languages	84	72	42	59
Ukrainian	60	69	40	59
Czech	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Slovak	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Armenian	19	32	19	32
Persian	48	44	(B)	-
Hindi	641	263	193	113
Gujarati	77	94	(B)	-
Urdu	327	218	106	90
Other Indic languages	971	435	481	218
India nec3	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Bengali	40	65	(D)	(D)
Panjabi	150	139	(D)	(D)
Marathi	195	205	(D)	(D)
Nepali	495	327	350	216
Pakistan nec3	50	88	40	70
Sinhalese	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Other Indo-European languages	416	316	176	231
Jamaican Creole	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Romanian	55	61	(B)	-
Albanian	180	231	170	230
Lithuanian	130	200	(B)	-
Latvian	35	31	(D)	(D)
ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES	11,012	740	5,237	534
Chinese (incl Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages4)	1,802	498	779	285
Chinese	1,595	469	680	273
Hakka	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Cantonese	110	129	(D)	(D)
Mandarin	85	73	75	70
Japanese	147	76	62	56
Korean	614	380	319	284
Mon-Khmer, Cambodian	258	109	151	84
Hmong	169	153	46	55
Thai	986	523	404	205
Laotian	2,038	523	724	201
Vietnamese	2,874	519	1,700	341
Other Asian languages	1,573	429	901	333
Telugu	475	228	145	106
Malayalam	95	79	30	47
Tamil	205	169	60	67
Tibetan	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Burmese	220	140	195	141
Karen	555	323	470	295
Tagalog	392	149	115	67
Other Pacific Island languages	159	230	36	48
Malay	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Chamorro	155	229	(D)	(D)
ALL OTHER LANGUAGES	4,681	855	2,106	527
Other Native North American languages	71	73	14	26
Crow	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Dakota	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Mono	35	68	(D)	(D)
Hungarian	3	5	(B)	-
Arabic	1,445	430	748	301
Hebrew	91	107	(B)	-
African languages	2,962	639	1,335	397
Amharic	190	113	90	82
Chadic	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Cushite	260	201	175	122
Sudanic	575	317	250	138
Nilotic	130	107	(D)	(D)
Nilo-Hamitic	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Swahili	660	259	275	182
Bantu	590	348	365	237
Mande	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Fulani	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Kru, Ibo, Yoruba	220	159	(D)	(D)
Efik	95	151	(B)	-
Mbum (and related)	110	160	(D)	(D)
Other and unspecified languages	109	80	9	15
Estonian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Caucasian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Syriac	25	45	(D)	(D)
Uncodable	55	58	(B)	-

Notes

Number of speakers and Speak English less than "Very Well": Detailed-language estimates are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Aggregate estimates ("language category" and "language sub-category" entries) are unrounded and appear in table B16001. Detailed-language estimates may not sum to aggregate estimates because of rounding.
Margin of Error and Margin of Error: Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see Accuracy of the Data. The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.
(D): Data withheld to avoid disclosure.
(B): Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute an estimate.
(X): Question does not apply.
-: Either no sample observations or too few sample observations were available to compute a standard error and thus the margin of error. A statistical test is not appropriate.
3 N.E.C. stands for not elsewhere classified. These are languages where respondents indicated they spoke either Indian or Pakistan. For Indian, it cannot be determined if the respondent spoke a native American language or spoke a language from India. For Pakistan, respondents wrote in Pakistan but it cannot be determined which one of the languages spoken in Pakistan is actually being spoken. To distinguish these languages, n.e.c. is used to indicated they are not classified in any other language code.
This category includes literal write-ins of Chinese as well as Hakka, Kan, Hsiang, Cantonese, Mandarin, Fuchow, Formosan, and Wu.