A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau has debunked the country's ever-evolving linguistic demographic. Based on data from the 2019 survey, the Census Bureau found that the number of people using a language other than English as their mother tongue has nearly tripled over the past four decades, significantly outstripping the English-speaking population growth.
According to the report, people who predominantly speak a language other than English at home make up about 22% (i.e. 67.8 million) of US residents, up from just 10% (23.1 million) in 1980. People using primarily English have also increased since 1980, this growth being less pronounced. The number of foreign language speakers has nearly tripled in four decades, while the number of English speakers has increased by nearly 25%.
The Census Bureau published a 37-page document on the country's language demographics in September. Earlier this month, it also released a release explaining some trends for a wider audience. Collecting language data like this is a useful way for organizations in both the private and public sectors to measure the need for language access across the country.
While the country still has a long way to go to fully embrace its linguistic diversity, one thing is for sure – as the number of foreign language speakers increases, so too are the requests to improve their language.
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