Most people in the United States speak English and most governmental functions are in English. The bureau collects data on language use to know what languages to use, and where, to get information to people about public health, voting, and safety.
News
Super Bowl LVI (56): February 13, 2022
The big game involves two top-50 U.S. metro areas by estimated population: #2 Los Angeles (13,200,998) vs. #30 Cincinnati (2,256,884) playing in Los Angeles.
Chinese New Year: February 1, 2022
According to the International Database, the mid-2021 population of China was 1.4B vs. 7.8B for the world, or about 17.9%. Children per woman was 1.5 vs. 2.3.
Census Bureau Releases 2021 Determinations for Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act
Today the U.S. Census Bureau released a list of 331 jurisdictions that are required to provide language assistance during elections.
Publications
Developing Public-Facing Language Products
This guide shares detailed information about the best practices implemented for the 2020 Census by the Census Bureau.
English-Speaking Ability of the Foreign-Born Population: 2012
This report examines English use at home and English-speaking ability among the foreign born.
School Enrollment in the United States: 2011
The publication School Enrollment in the United States: 2011 is CPS and ACS.
Data
Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English
The ACS 2009-2013 multi-year data are used to list all languages spoken in the United States that were reported during the sample period.
Detailed Language Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English
The ACS 2006-2008 multi-year data are used to list all languages spoken in the United States that were reported during the sample period.
A Demographic Profile of Foreign-Language Speakers: 2000
These foreign born tables are from the 2000 A Demographic Profile of Foreign-Language Speakers.
Working Papers
Which American Languages are Dying?
This paper uses ACS data to quantify the vulnerability of endangered indigenous American languages.
Household and Community Characteristics and Children's Acculturation
The American Community Survey is used to explore the associations of household and community characteristics with children’s linguistic acculturation.
ACS Redesign of Language-Spoken-at-Home Data, 2016
This report describes the processes, decision points, and challenges involved in the 2016 ACS language data redesign.