Spanish
Reference material, with every source named. Our own communities are further down the page.
Endangerment status
Not endangered
Children are still learning this language at home.
Source: Glottolog (glottolog-cldf, master)
ISO 639-3 spa · ISO 639-1 es · Glottocode stan1288
Speakers at home
The census counts this language on its own, so these figures are for it alone.
By state
- California10,513,931limited English 4,107,223
- Texas7,932,949limited English 3,034,861
- Florida4,801,213limited English 2,076,728
- New York2,772,893limited English 1,235,249
- Illinois1,681,635limited English 659,015
- New Jersey1,514,828limited English 698,739
- Arizona1,344,168limited English 436,583
- Georgia890,264limited English 379,474
- North Carolina876,033limited English 367,905
- Pennsylvania686,810limited English 289,487
- Washington665,921limited English 257,922
- Virginia649,137limited English 266,943
- Massachusetts646,141limited English 283,213
- Colorado613,290limited English 218,947
- Nevada600,083limited English 235,380
- Maryland562,050limited English 259,582
- New Mexico491,462limited English 144,429
- Connecticut439,949limited English 181,410
- Oregon365,276limited English 137,684
- Indiana353,025limited English 143,205
- Tennessee348,679limited English 168,866
- Utah345,046limited English 122,660
- Oklahoma305,840limited English 116,958
- Michigan298,830limited English 104,105
- Ohio294,716limited English 115,162
- Wisconsin276,721limited English 107,057
- South Carolina262,999limited English 113,786
- Minnesota227,636limited English 89,118
- Kansas223,357limited English 91,513
- Louisiana201,847limited English 98,013
- Alabama187,711limited English 80,254
- Arkansas176,128limited English 76,692
- Missouri169,451limited English 60,199
- Nebraska156,178limited English 68,754
- Idaho147,208limited English 51,778
- Kentucky146,717limited English 68,047
- Rhode Island141,693limited English 62,266
- Iowa140,635limited English 59,207
- Delaware76,483limited English 33,644
- Mississippi73,687limited English 32,025
- New Hampshire34,831limited English 12,345
- Hawaii27,778limited English 6,335
- Wyoming26,551limited English 9,185
- Alaska22,437limited English 5,926
- South Dakota22,332limited English 9,997
- West Virginia19,863limited English 5,609
- North Dakota16,618limited English 4,904
- Montana15,285limited English 4,082
- Maine13,107limited English 3,343
- Vermont8,063limited English 1,451
By city
- New York City1,808,138limited English 860,328
- Los Angeles1,440,657limited English 675,397
- Houston836,997limited English 435,710
- Chicago617,723limited English 276,487
- Phoenix462,608limited English 173,625
- Dallas438,905limited English 202,650
- San Diego301,315limited English 107,718
- San Jose200,570limited English 86,480
- Philadelphia163,503limited English 65,235
- Charlotte138,660limited English 76,176
- Boston101,881limited English 47,527
- Sacramento89,628limited English 31,336
- Columbus60,755limited English 31,050
- Seattle40,054limited English 9,661
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS table B16001 (via Census Reporter), ACS 2024 5-year. The second figure counts people who speak English less than “very well”.
The census publishes this table for every state but for only a handful of cities. A city missing from this list is one it does not publish, not one where nobody speaks the language.
Help record this language 0 / 10
Ten small things, each answerable in under a minute by anyone who speaks the language. You do not need to prepare, and you do not have to do them in order.
- A greetingnone yet
How do you greet someone, and how do they answer?
- Numbersnone yet
Count from one to ten.
- Familynone yet
The words for mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, child.
- Saying goodbyenone yet
How did the oldest person you knew say goodbye?
- Foodnone yet
Name a dish and say how it is made.
- Weather and seasonsnone yet
Describe today’s weather, then name the seasons.
- A place namenone yet
The name of your home place in this language, and what it means.
- A proverbnone yet
A saying that does not translate well. Say it, then explain it.
- A song for a childnone yet
Sing something that was sung to you.
- A storynone yet
A story you were told as a child. Take as long as you need.
Join a community for this language to add a recording
You keep what you record. It stays credited to you, nobody else can change it, and you can delete it at any time.
Communities on CultureMesh
- Spanish speakers in Texasmembers 1
- Spanish speakers in Louisianamembers 1
- Spanish speakers in Floridamembers 1
Notes from people here
Is this right? For most languages the census refuses to count speakers separately, so the figure above is a whole category rather than this language. If you know better, write it down — on this page you are the source.
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Sign in to add a noteCite this page
CultureMesh, "Spanish" language page (https://www.culturemesh.com/languages/spanish-2). Endangerment status: Glottolog (glottolog-cldf, master). Speakers at home: US Census Bureau, ACS table B16001 (via Census Reporter), ACS 2024 5-year.