Data on language spoken at home were derived from answers to questions 14a and 14b in the 2022 American Community Survey. These questions were asked only of persons 5 years of age and older. Instructions mailed with the American Community Survey questionnaire instructed respondents to mark "Yes" on Question 14a if they sometimes or always spoke a language other than English at home, and "No" if a language was spoken only at school - or if speaking was limited to a few expressions or slang. For Question 14b, respondents printed the name of the non-English language they spoke at home. If the person spoke more than one non-English language, they reported the language spoken most often. If the language spoken most frequently could not be determined, the respondent reported the language learned first.

Questions 14a and 14b referred to languages spoken at home in an effort to measure the current use of languages other than English. This category excluded respondents who spoke a language other than English exclusively outside of the home.

Write-in responses to Question 14b were categorized into more than 1300 detailed language codes. In 2018, American Community Survey language codes were standardized based on the International Statistical Organization ISO-639-3 standard. Using an automated computer system, the language coding procedure compared write-in responses with a master computer code list - which contained approximately 190,000 previously coded language names and variants - and then assigned a detailed language category to each write-in response. The computerized matching assured that identical alphabetic entries received the same code.
Clerical coding categorized any write-in responses that did not match the computer dictionary. When multiple languages other than English were specified, only the first was coded.

The write-in responses represented the names people used for languages they spoke. They may not have matched the names or categories used by linguists. Whenever possible, the write-ins were matched with an ISO-639-3 standardized individual language; however, language families and geographical terms were used if classifying at the individual language level was not possible. Presenting data for all languages is not sensible due to sample size and confidentiality concerns. The Four Group Classifications and Forty-Two Group Classifications of Languages Spoken at Home with Examples table in Appendix A provides an illustration of the content of the classification schemes used to present language data. These four-group and forty-two group classifications are used in many standardized data products previously disseminated on American Factfinder and now via https://data.census.gov beginning in 2022 data. However, many more languages are available in the American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) and in detailed tables packages. Languages as small as 10,000 speakers may be included in the PUMS dataset. For more information on the Public Use Microdata Sample, please see the PUMS technical documentation.

In households where one or more people spoke a language other than English, the household language assigned to all household members was the non- English language spoken by the first person with a non-English language. This assignment scheme ranked household members in the following order: householder, spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandchild, other relative, stepchild, unmarried partner, housemate or roommate, and other nonrelatives. Therefore, a person who spoke only English may have had a non-English household language assigned during tabulations by household language.

Government agencies use information on language spoken at home for their programs that serve the needs of the foreign-born and specifically those who have difficulty with English. Under the Voting Rights Act, language is needed to meet statutory requirements for making voting materials available in minority languages. The Census Bureau is directed, using data about language spoken at home and the ability to speak English, to identify minority groups that speak a language other than English and to assess their English-speaking ability. The U.S. Department of Education uses these data to prepare a report to Congress on the social and economic status of children served by different local school districts.

Government agencies use information on language spoken at home for their programs that serve the needs of the foreign-born and specifically those who have difficulty with English. Under the Voting Rights Act, language is needed to meet statutory requirements for making voting materials available in minority languages. The Census Bureau is directed, using data about language spoken at home and the ability to speak English, to identify minority groups that speak a language other than English and to assess their English-speaking ability. The U.S. Department of Education uses these data to prepare a report to Congress on the social and economic status of children served by different local school districts. State and local agencies concerned with aging develop health care and other services tailored to the language and cultural diversity of the elderly under the Older Americans Act.

Question/Concept History

The Language Spoken At Home Questions have changed only once since ACS began. Examples of languages were listed immediately followed the question “What is this language?” in the 1996-1998 questionnaire. Starting in 1999, the list of languages was moved to below the write-in box. In 2018, the code list for languages was standardized to match the International Statistical Organization’s standard ISO-639-3.

Limitation of the Data

Beginning in 2006, the population in group quarters (GQ) was included in the ACS. Some types of GQ populations may have language spoken at home distributions that are different from the household population. The inclusion of the GQ population could therefore have a noticeable impact on the language spoken at home distribution. This is particularly true for areas with a substantial GQ population.

The language question is about current use of a non-English language, not about ability to speak another language or the use of such a language in the past. People who speak a language other than English outside of the home are not reported as speaking a language other than English. Similarly, people whose mother tongue is a non-English language but who do not currently use the language at home do not report the language. Some people who speak a language other than English at home may have first learned that language in school. These people are expected to indicate speaking English "Very well."

Comparability

Caution should be taken when comparing language data from the ACS and 1980, 1990, and 2000 Censuses across time. Methodological changes to data collection in 2013 may have affected language data. Users should be aware of these changes when comparing data from 2013 or after to data from before 2013, or when using multi-year ACS data containing data from before and after 2013. For more information on comparability of language data, see the user note, "2013 Language Estimates."

The full Language Code List is found within the 2022 ACS Code List. Go to http://www.census.gov and enter "ACS Code Lists, Definitions, and Accuracy" in the search box

Respondents who reported speaking a language other than English (question 14a in the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) were asked to indicate their English-speaking ability (question 14c in the 2022 ACS) based on one of the following categories: "Very well," "Well," "Not well," or "Not at all." Those who answered "Well," "Not well," or "Not at all" are sometimes referred as "Less than 'very well.'" Respondents were not instructed on how to interpret the response categories in this question.

This variable identifies households that may need English-language assistance. A "Limited English speaking household" is one in which no member 14 years old and over (1) speaks only English at home or (2) speaks a language other than English at home and speaks English "Very well."

After data are collected for each person in the household, the limited English-speaking household variable is calculated by checking if all people 14 years old and older speak a language other than English. If so, the calculation checks the English-speaking ability responses to see if all people 14 years old and older speak English "Less than 'very well.'" If all household members 14 and over speak a language other than English and speak English "Less than 'very well,'" the household is considered part of this group that may be in need of English language assistance. All members of a household are included in this group, including members under 14 years old who may speak only English or speak a language other than English at home and speak English "Very well."

Government agencies use information on language spoken at home and ability to speak English for their programs that serve the needs of those who have difficulty with English. Under the Voting Rights Act, data on language are necessary to meet statutory requirements for making voting materials available in minority languages. This Act directs the Census Bureau, using data about language spoken at home and the ability to speak English, to identify minority groups that speak a language other than English and to assess their Englishspeaking ability. The U.S. Department of Education uses the language data to prepare a report to Congress on the social and economic status of children served by different local school districts. State and local agencies concerned with aging develop health care and other services tailored to the language and cultural diversity of the elderly under the Older Americans Act.

Question/Concept History - The English Language Ability question has been the same since the beginning of the ACS. "Limited English-speaking households" has been calculated the same way in all years of ACS data collection, but has sometimes been termed "Linguistic Isolation" or "Households in which no one 14 and over speaks English only or speaks a language other than English and speaks English 'Very Well.'"

Limitation of the Data - Beginning in 2006, the population in group quarters (GQ) was included in the ACS. Some types of GQ populations may have ability to speak English distributions that are different from the household population. The inclusion of the GQ population could therefore have a noticeable impact on the ability to speak English distribution. This is particularly true for areas with a substantial GQ population. Ideally, the data on ability to speak English represented a person’s perception of their own English-speaking ability. However, because one household member usually completes ACS questionnaires, the responses may have represented the perception of another household member.

Comparability - Caution should be taken when comparing language data from the ACS and 1980, 1990, and 2000 Censuses across time. Methodological changes to data collection in 2013 may have affected language data. Users should be aware of these changes when comparing data from 2013 or after to data from before 2013, or when using multi-year ACS data containing data from before and after 2013. For more information on comparability of language data, see the user note, "2013 Language Estimates." Though the term “Linguistic Isolation” is no longer used, data under this heading were tabulated in the same way as data under the heading "Limited English speaking households" or "Households in which no one 14 and over speaks English only or speaks a language other than English and speaks English 'Very well.'"