The most commonly used language in the United States is English (specifically American English), which is the de facto national language. A March 2025 executive order declared English the official language of the United States; despite some previous attempts, no legislation has been passed by the U.S. Congress to make English the official language.[1][3][2] In addition, 32 U.S. states out of 50 and all five U.S. territories have declared English as an official language, while three states and all territories have adopted one or more official languages. Accommodations for non-English-language speakers are sometimes made under various federal, state, and local laws. The majority of the U.S. population (78%) speaks only English at home as of 2023, according to the American Community Survey (ACS) of the U.S. Census Bureau.[8] The remainder of the population speaks many other languages at home, most notably Spanish (13.4% of the population). Asian languages such as Chinese (around 1% of the population), Tagalog, and Vietnamese are also widely spoken, in addition to the Indigenous languages of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and native populations in the U.S. unincorporated territories. Many languages were brought into the United States during its earliest history from Europe, Africa, Asia, other parts of the Americas, and Oceania, with some of them developing into dialects (such as Gullah), creole languages (such as Louisiana Creole), and pidgin languages. American Sign Language (ASL) and Interlingua, an international auxiliary language, were created in the United States.
The majority of foreign language speakers in the U.S. are bilingual or multilingual, and they commonly speak English. Although 22% of U.S. residents report that they speak a language other than English at home, only 8.4% of these same residents speak English less than "very well".[9][10] Approximately 430 languages are spoken or signed by the population, of which 177 are indigenous to the U.S. or its territories.[11]
ACS2021
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