By Mike Schneider / The Associated Press

Spanish may be the most spoken language at home behind English, except in three U.S. states, but the second most-popular, non-English languages used in each state show off the diversity of the United States in unexpected places, whether it's Korean in Alabama or Vietnamese in Kansas.

Almost 22 percent of U.S. residents age 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home, double the share from four decades ago, according to figures released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau, and it varied by state. 

In California, 44 percent of residents spoke a language other than English at home, while it was 2.5 percent in West Virginia. In Nevada, 29.9 percent of residents speak a language other than English, making it one of the top five states for the highest percentage of multilingual households.

The United States is a multilingual nation because of immigration, despite recent crackdowns by the Trump administration, said William Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution. 

"This is a big part of who we've been over a long period of time," Frey said.

President Donald Trump earlier this year issued an executive order designating English as the official language in the U.S. Prior to this executive order, more than 30 states had already passed laws that designate English as their official language. Nevada, however, has not. 

Spanish was spoken at home by 13.2 percent of speakers, and it was the top non-English language spoken at home in every state but Hawaii, Maine and Vermont. In Maine and Vermont, home to French Canadian communities, French was the most popular non-English language, and in Hawaii, it was Iloko, a language spoken by the Ilocano people of the Philippines.

Nevada holds the nation’s highest rate of undocumented people and the largest share of mixed-status families. While the majority of households speaking another language are Spanish speakers, Nevada families can also be found speaking “Asian and Pacific Island languages” such as Tagalog. Here's a look at where languages are spoken in the United States.

Arabic

Outside of English and Spanish, Arabic was the most spoken language at home in Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. The Detroit, Michigan, area has more Arabic speakers than any other metro area. With a little more than 5,100 number of speakers, Arabic makes up a small percentage of the Nevada population.

Central Yup'ik

About 1 out of 7 Alaskans who speak a language other than English at home did so in Central Yup'ik, making the native language the second most common non-English language behind Spanish in Alaska.

Chinese

Chinese was the second-most common non-English language spoken at home in Delaware, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington. If all Chinese dialects are combined, it would be the third most spoken language in California behind English and Spanish. Chinese is the fourth-most common language in Nevada, and it is spoken at home by nearly 1 percent of the population. This number does not include Mandarin and Yue Chinese, which are spoken by about 7,200 and 6,300 Nevadans, respectively.  

French

Although it was the dominant non-English language in Maine and Vermont, French was the second most-common non-English language in Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire and North Carolina. Nevada’s French-speaking population is significantly smaller, with about 8,400 total speakers. 

German

German was the most spoken language behind English and Spanish in eight states — Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming. In total, more than 871,000 people older than 5 spoke German at home in 2021, compared to 1.6 million in 1980. German speakers make up less than 1 percent of the population in Nevada.

Haitian

Florida had almost a half million Haitian speakers, making it the most common language behind English and Spanish. The Sunshine State has the nation's largest Haitian population.

Hmong

In Minnesota and Wisconsin, Hmong was the second-most spoken non-English language at home. Many Hmong people settled in the Upper Midwest states after fleeing Southeast Asia in the mid-1970s following the Vietnam War.

Korean

Korean was the most spoken language in Alabama and Virginia behind English and Spanish. Nevada is home to a little more than 10,600 Korean speakers. 

Lakota

In South Dakota, the Lakota dialect of the Sioux people was the most common language spoken behind English and Spanish.

Marshallese

The language of the Marshall Islands was the second-most spoken non-English language in Arkansas, where the community is concentrated in the northwest part of the state.

Navajo

Arizona and New Mexico had the most Navajo speakers in the United States. The Navajo Nation extends into Arizona and New Mexico, where the indigenous language was the second-most popular non-English speech in those two states.

Polish

Despite a nationwide decline in speakers, Polish was Illinois' second-most common non-English language behind Spanish, primarily due to the Chicago area having one of the nation's largest Polish communities.

Portuguese

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island have some of the largest concentrations of Portuguese speakers in the U.S., making it the most spoken language in these states behind English and Spanish. It also is the second-most common non-English language in Utah, which is home to missionaries who served in Brazil and explains its popularity, according to the University of Utah.

Tagalog

The Filipino language was prevalent in California, Hawaii and Nevada, where it was the second-most popular non-English tongue. Nevada has more than 590,000 Tagalog speakers, making it the third-most spoken language in the state. Of those Tagalog speakers, nearly 40 percent speak English less than “very well.”

Vietnamese

In Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas, Vietnamese was the most popular language behind English and Spanish, reflecting that people who speak different languages are no longer concentrated in big cities that serve as entry points for immigrants. Approximately 16,400 Nevada residents speak Vietnamese and other Austro-Asiatic languages at home.

"People of different backgrounds are dispersed to different parts of the country," Frey said.

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Follow Mike Schneider on Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Nevada Independent intern Alejo Cruz contributed to this article.