Languages spoken in San Francisco County, CA

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 San Francisco County [CA]

Table showing languages spoken in San Francisco County, CA

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	780,888	81	176,336	2,819
Speak only English at home	429,739	3,455	(X)	(X)
Speak a language other than English at home	351,149	3,450	176,336	2,819
SPANISH AND SPANISH CREOLE	90,720	1,843	39,228	1,533
Spanish	90,720	1,843	39,230	1,533
OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES	50,211	2,111	14,407	1,127
French (incl Patois, Cajun)	8,811	892	1,235	267
French	8,810	892	1,235	267
French Creole	117	136	(B)	-
Italian	3,700	533	700	177
Portuguese (incl Portuguese Creole)	1,704	437	481	178
Portuguese	1,705	437	480	178
German (incl Luxembourgian)	4,639	531	389	143
German	4,630	528	390	143
Luxembourgian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Yiddish	45	38	21	24
Other West Germanic languages	661	196	36	35
Dutch	520	180	35	35
Afrikaans	145	87	(B)	-
Scandinavian languages	960	304	67	62
Swedish	675	258	65	62
Danish	150	99	(B)	-
Norwegian	135	83	(B)	-
Greek	1,390	386	221	120
Russian	13,003	1,124	7,696	844
Polish	749	254	237	113
Serbo-Croatian languages	1,045	346	394	262
Serbocroatian	495	304	290	254
Croatian	265	143	85	63
Serbian	285	137	25	20
Other Slavic languages	975	285	371	221
Ukrainian	160	86	100	72
Czech	300	157	35	33
Slovak	270	271	(D)	(D)
Bulgarian	230	150	75	81
Macedonian	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Slovene	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Armenian	711	252	286	136
Persian	2,459	628	443	173
Hindi	3,545	706	471	237
Gujarati	1,263	510	282	220
Urdu	877	444	188	161
Other Indic languages	2,322	624	595	254
India nec3	65	72	50	52
Bengali	380	226	65	56
Panjabi	1,075	400	225	137
Marathi	210	152	(B)	-
Nepali	200	127	130	93
Sindhi	300	380	110	158
Pakistan nec3	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Sinhalese	75	78	(B)	-
Other Indo-European languages	1,235	355	294	157
Jamaican Creole	45	41	(D)	(D)
Krio	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Romanian	315	137	65	67
Welsh	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Irish Gaelic	500	254	95	90
Albanian	180	120	(D)	(D)
Lithuanian	60	57	(D)	(D)
Latvian	55	47	(D)	(D)
Pashto	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Kurdish	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES	204,140	2,540	120,866	2,221
Chinese (incl Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages4)	143,872	3,222	92,565	2,412
Chinese	72,135	2,960	47,960	2,109
Hakka	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Cantonese	59,515	2,514	38,820	1,923
Mandarin	11,240	1,306	5,240	723
Formosan	805	269	395	180
Wu	160	132	135	127
Japanese	6,790	671	3,045	382
Korean	6,271	878	3,593	627
Mon-Khmer, Cambodian	1,212	571	662	307
Hmong	158	109	37	42
Thai	2,183	611	1,405	456
Laotian	309	163	212	122
Vietnamese	9,860	968	5,992	716
Other Asian languages	3,593	690	1,634	405
Uighur	85	99	65	93
Turkish	535	245	125	90
Mongolian	580	313	265	158
Telugu	270	134	(B)	-
Kannada	145	103	(B)	-
Malayalam	95	77	40	46
Tamil	470	174	(D)	(D)
Tibetan	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Burmese	1,390	405	1,080	314
Tagalog	24,935	1,887	10,208	897
Other Pacific Island languages	4,957	788	1,513	465
Indonesian	1,700	524	670	329
Balinese	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Javanese	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Malay	185	199	(D)	(D)
Bisayan	165	89	50	40
Sebuano	310	175	105	79
Pangasinan	105	114	55	85
Ilocano	565	281	305	211
Pampangan	215	222	40	83
Chamorro	50	53	(B)	-
Palau	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Samoan	1,300	350	190	95
Tongan	160	172	(D)	(D)
Fijian	75	58	(D)	(D)
Maori	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Hawaiian	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
ALL OTHER LANGUAGES	6,078	834	1,835	360
Navajo	19	28	(B)	-
Other Native North American languages	138	135	(B)	-
Aleut	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Mountain Maidu	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Cherokee	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Shoshoni	(D)	(D)	(B)	-
Hungarian	265	161	99	80
Arabic	2,930	524	1,100	310
Hebrew	1,229	271	157	90
African languages	1,024	424	197	110
Amharic	735	390	165	96
Berber	(D)	(D)	(D)	(D)
Swahili	85	94	(B)	-
Kru, Ibo, Yoruba	195	120	(D)	(D)
Other and unspecified languages	473	233	282	210
Finnish	90	62	(B)	-
Caucasian	135	146	135	146
Basque	45	48	40	47
Syriac	140	82	45	44
Mayan languages	60	86	60	86

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.