Languages spoken in Michigan


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 Michigan

Table showing languages spoken in Michigan






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
  • Armenian
  • Persian
  • Hindi
  • Gujarati
  • Urdu
  • Other Indic languages
  • Other Indo-European languages

    • ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES
  • Chinese (incl. Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages)
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Mon-Khmer, Cambodian
  • Hmong
  • Thai
  • Laotian
  • Vietnamese
  • Other Asian languages
  • Tagalog
  • Other Pacific Island languages

    • ALL OTHER LANGUAGES
  • Navajo
  • Other Native North American languages
  • Hungarian
  • Arabic
  • Hebrew
  • African languages
  • Other and unspecified languages



    • BY STATE
    BY COUNTY
    BY CITY
    LanguageNumber of speakersMargin of ErrorSpeak English less than "Very Well"Margin of Error
    Population 5 years and over9,300,837376301,4674,111
    Speak only English at home8,457,5816,635(X)(X)
    Speak a language other than English at home843,2566,567301,4674,111
    SPANISH AND SPANISH CREOLE270,7083,06895,1842,120
    Spanish270,6953,06795,1852,120
    Pachuco(D)(D)(B)-
    OTHER INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES275,0434,89182,7972,164
    French (incl Patois, Cajun)25,0111,1944,420466
    French24,5901,1764,305443
    Patois405166115142
    Cajun1512(B)-
    French Creole1,600349337135
    Italian19,9341,0025,836513
    Portuguese (incl Portuguese Creole)4,031522988258
    Portuguese4,030522990258
    German (incl Luxembourgian)39,5031,6746,780523
    German39,5051,6746,780523
    Yiddish5791285939
    Other West Germanic languages9,3728102,473382
    Pennsylvania Dutch3,3705451,415282
    Dutch5,7105601,035210
    Afrikaans2501192020
    Frisian4538(B)-
    Scandinavian languages2,08832919566
    Swedish1,2052599548
    Danish37099(D)(D)
    Norwegian4651198550
    Icelandic5049(D)(D)
    Greek7,8877762,043368
    Russian11,8199355,165533
    Polish23,0421,3026,918603
    Serbo-Croatian languages13,0091,4135,695727
    Serbocroatian8,9301,2164,470643
    Croatian1,225265405125
    Serbian2,855447820236
    Other Slavic languages13,4321,0544,920471
    Bielorussian(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Ukrainian4,5356082,280419
    Czech1,02520525096
    Slovak1,21038214072
    Bulgarian945307330116
    Macedonian5,6108241,875389
    Slovene95573531
    Armenian2,284422553164
    Persian2,644446813225
    Hindi16,3401,3933,378501
    Gujarati9,3551,0022,905444
    Urdu11,2949903,400525
    Other Indic languages26,3431,68611,7791,106
    India nec31,400350725231
    Bengali13,7951,2877,110892
    Panjabi4,7307901,470339
    Marathi2,540529495189
    Rajasthani(D)(D)(B)-
    Oriya3351714047
    Assamese7570(D)(D)
    Kashmiri(D)(D)(B)-
    Nepali2,4055411,625458
    Sindhi12593(D)(D)
    Pakistan nec31901532028
    Sinhalese530231205126
    Romany1751214038
    Other Indo-European languages35,4762,32114,1401,231
    Jamaican Creole150742023
    Krio5546(B)-
    Pidgin90914551
    Catalonian(D)(D)(B)-
    Romanian11,3751,0504,360534
    Welsh8575(B)-
    Irish Gaelic3701072023
    Scottic Gaelic6049(D)(D)
    Albanian20,0601,9068,8951,001
    Lithuanian1,530297360103
    Latvian1,17024420084
    Pashto3043(D)(D)
    Kurdish490253225125
    ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLAND LANGUAGES135,7242,54057,9872,040
    Chinese (incl Cantonese, Mandarin, other Chinese languages4)39,2731,49118,7901,057
    Chinese29,9601,45814,875967
    Hakka(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Cantonese2,3254181,070296
    Mandarin5,9556042,350436
    Formosan940225435141
    Wu4533(D)(D)
    Japanese12,0229776,080807
    Korean15,3561,2168,333852
    Mon-Khmer, Cambodian1,511380736215
    Hmong4,8878641,634363
    Thai1,447281788155
    Laotian2,1374331,217279
    Vietnamese15,1301,3969,449998
    Other Asian languages24,4651,7855,844807
    Kazakh(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Kirghiz(D)(D)(B)-
    Uighur(D)(D)(B)-
    Azerbaijani3531(B)-
    Turkish1,265310430214
    Mongolian90915550
    Dravidian(D)(D)(B)-
    Gondi8088(B)-
    Telugu8,6959161,605301
    Kannada2,425523255119
    Malayalam3,9006161,000285
    Tamil6,4408921,100317
    Munda(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Tibetan(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Burmese895331840325
    Karen525375505372
    Kachin(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Mien(D)(D)(B)-
    Tagalog16,9031,0934,300506
    Other Pacific Island languages2,593339816222
    Indonesian570204215137
    Balinese(D)(D)(B)-
    Malay4401517561
    Bisayan485275200165
    Sebuano165887562
    Pangasinan5563(D)(D)
    Ilocano1901139081
    Pampangan2526(D)(D)
    Micronesian70693035
    Chamorro125622524
    Kusaiean(D)(D)(B)-
    Mortlockese(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Palau3042(D)(D)
    Ponapean(D)(D)(B)-
    Trukese(D)(D)(B)-
    Melanesian2532(B)-
    Polynesian(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Samoan200103(D)(D)
    Tongan(D)(D)(B)-
    Hawaiian11588(D)(D)
    ALL OTHER LANGUAGES161,7813,96865,4992,198
    Navajo1028024
    Other Native North American languages3,45441740892
    Inupik(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Yupik2023(B)-
    Algonquian(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Menomini(D)(D)(B)-
    Ojibwa1,91028220573
    Ottawa4351824537
    Passamaquoddy(D)(D)(B)-
    Potawatomi160691517
    Okanogan(D)(D)(B)-
    Apache2530(D)(D)
    Dakota(D)(D)(B)-
    Alabama(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Choctaw170883534
    Muskogee(D)(D)(B)-
    Oneida2023(B)-
    Seneca7096(B)-
    Cherokee175761516
    Pima(D)(D)(B)-
    American Indian3701655525
    Hungarian2,510358589151
    Arabic111,9443,22346,8891,930
    Hebrew2,629414454160
    African languages13,8191,5614,8121,021
    Amharic1,125330505186
    Berber(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Chadic(D)(D)(D)(D)
    Cushite1,320451625281
    Sudanic440244140136
    Nilo-Hamitic180213180213
    Nubian(D)(D)(B)-
    Swahili1,890521775436
    Bantu2,470709870477
    Mande530236215152
    Fulani745274205128
    Kru, Ibo, Yoruba4,9008101,180354
    Efik95702532
    African90737068
    Other and unspecified languages27,3231,95412,3451,182
    Finnish2,58028343087
    Estonian80431520
    Other Uralic languages(D)(D)(B)-
    Caucasian120100(D)(D)
    Syriac24,3151,93911,7251,179
    Mayan languages16510412071
    Uncodable6045(D)(D)

    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.


    Surnames by race:  Asian   |  Black   |  Hispanic   |  Native American   |  Two or More Races   |  White

    Surnames Alphabetical:  A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z

    Most Common Male Names:  1-300  |   301-600  |   601-900  |   901+  |   Alphabetical list

    Most Common Female Names:  1-1000 1001-2000  |   2001-3000  |   3001+  |   Alphabetical list

    Popular Baby Names in the U.S. (Historic)  Boys: 1-250  |  251-500  |  501-750  |  751-1000        Girls: 1-250  |  251-500  |  501-750  |  751-1000

    Ancestry in the United States:  Ancestry by city  |   Mexican  |   German  |   Irish  |   English  |   African American  |   More



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