US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home

Starr County had the highest population speaking a language other than English at home of 3135 counties in 2021, at 92.3%. Owsley County had the lowest, at 0%. The median was 5.3% and the figure for the United States was 21.7%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest92.3Starr County
Median5.33135 counties
United States21.7History

Map of counties, 2021

%, 2021. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2021

Starr County: 92.3 %Starr County92.3Webb County: 89.8 %Webb County89.8Maverick County: 89.3 %Maverick County89.3Zapata County: 88.4 %Zapata County88.4Kenedy County: 88 %Kenedy County88Hidalgo County: 82.1 %Hidalgo County82.1Santa Cruz County: 79.2 %Santa Cruz County79.2Presidio County: 77 %Presidio County77Miami-Dade County: 75.1 %Miami-Dade County75.1Imperial County: 74.9 %Imperial County74.9Hudspeth County: 72.9 %Hudspeth County72.9Cameron County: 71.5 %Cameron County71.5El Paso County: 69.3 %El Paso County69.3Zavala County: 69.1 %Zavala County69.1Val Verde County: 66.8 %Val Verde County66.8Brooks County: 64.8 %Brooks County64.8Jim Hogg County: 61.6 %Jim Hogg County61.6Bethel Census Area: 61 %Bethel Census Area61Willacy County: 60.8 %Willacy County60.8Yoakum County: 59.2 %Yoakum County59.2Gaines County: 59 %Gaines County59Culberson County: 58.7 %Culberson County58.7La Salle County: 58.7 %La Salle County58.7Seward County: 58.6 %Seward County58.6Hudson County: 58.4 %Hudson County58.4Rio Arriba County: 58.3 %Rio Arriba County58.3Mora County: 58.3 %Mora County58.3Bronx County: 58.2 %Bronx County58.2Dimmit County: 58.2 %Dimmit County58.2Bailey County: 58 %Bailey County58Frio County: 55.9 %Frio County55.9Los Angeles County: 55.8 %Los Angeles County55.8Reeves County: 55.6 %Reeves County55.6Monterey County: 55.4 %Monterey County55.4Duval County: 55.2 %Duval County55.2Queens County: 55.2 %Queens County55.2Reagan County: 55 %Reagan County55Apache County: 54.9 %Apache County54.9Deaf Smith County: 54.6 %Deaf Smith County54.6Yuma County: 54.2 %Yuma County54.2Starr County: 92.3 %Starr County92.3Webb County: 89.8 %Webb County89.8Maverick County: 89.3 %Maverick County89.3Zapata County: 88.4 %Zapata County88.4Kenedy County: 88 %Kenedy County88Hidalgo County: 82.1 %Hidalgo County82.1Santa Cruz County: 79.2 %Santa Cruz County79.2Presidio County: 77 %Presidio County77Miami-Dade County: 75.1 %Miami-Dade County75.1Imperial County: 74.9 %Imperial County74.9Hudspeth County: 72.9 %Hudspeth County72.9Cameron County: 71.5 %Cameron County71.5El Paso County: 69.3 %El Paso County69.3Zavala County: 69.1 %Zavala County69.1Val Verde County: 66.8 %Val Verde County66.8Brooks County: 64.8 %Brooks County64.8Jim Hogg County: 61.6 %Jim Hogg County61.6Bethel Census Area: 61 %Bethel Census Area61Willacy County: 60.8 %Willacy County60.8Yoakum County: 59.2 %Yoakum County59.2Gaines County: 59 %Gaines County59Culberson County: 58.7 %Culberson County58.7La Salle County: 58.7 %La Salle County58.7Seward County: 58.6 %Seward County58.6Hudson County: 58.4 %Hudson County58.4Rio Arriba County: 58.3 %Rio Arriba County58.3Mora County: 58.3 %Mora County58.3Bronx County: 58.2 %Bronx County58.2Dimmit County: 58.2 %Dimmit County58.2Bailey County: 58 %Bailey County58Frio County: 55.9 %Frio County55.9Los Angeles County: 55.8 %Los Angeles County55.8Reeves County: 55.6 %Reeves County55.6Monterey County: 55.4 %Monterey County55.4Duval County: 55.2 %Duval County55.2Queens County: 55.2 %Queens County55.2Reagan County: 55 %Reagan County55Apache County: 54.9 %Apache County54.9Deaf Smith County: 54.6 %Deaf Smith County54.6Yuma County: 54.2 %Yuma County54.2
%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021 (%)
1Starr County92.3
2Webb County89.8
3Maverick County89.3
4Zapata County88.4
5Kenedy County88
6Hidalgo County82.1
7Santa Cruz County79.2
8Presidio County77
9Miami-Dade County75.1
10Imperial County74.9
11Hudspeth County72.9
12Cameron County71.5
13El Paso County69.3
14Zavala County69.1
15Val Verde County66.8
16Brooks County64.8
17Jim Hogg County61.6
18Bethel Census Area61
19Willacy County60.8
20Yoakum County59.2
21Gaines County59
22Culberson County58.7
23La Salle County58.7
24Seward County58.6
25Hudson County58.4
26Rio Arriba County58.3
27Mora County58.3
28Bronx County58.2
29Dimmit County58.2
30Bailey County58
31Frio County55.9
32Los Angeles County55.8
33Reeves County55.6
34Monterey County55.4
35Duval County55.2
36Queens County55.2
37Reagan County55
38Apache County54.9
39Deaf Smith County54.6
40Yuma County54.2
41Osceola County54.1
42San Miguel County53.9
43Santa Clara County53.7
44Parmer County53.5
45McKinley County53.5
46Uvalde County53.4
47Aleutians West Census Area53.3
48Pecos County53
49Merced County52.9
50Adams County52.3
51Crockett County52.2
52Luna County52
53Colusa County51.6
54Moore County51.3
55Sutton County50.9
56Castro County50.7
57Tulare County50.5
58Cochran County50.5
59Manassas Park city50
60Passaic County49.8
61Hendry County49.5
62Holmes County49.5
63Ford County49.2
64Terrell County49.1
65Crane County48.6
66Franklin County48.5
67Doña Ana County48.3
68Colfax County48
69Ochiltree County47.7
70Ector County46.7
71Jim Wells County46.6
72Alameda County46
73LaGrange County45.8
74Middlesex County45.6
75Madera County45.4
76San Mateo County45.3
77Union County45.2
78Orange County45.1
79Guadalupe County45
80Harris County44.7
81Kern County44.4
82Kings County44.3
83Winkler County43.8
84Texas County43.7
85Fresno County43.6
86Finney County43.6
87Dallas County43.1
88Stanislaus County42.8
89San Francisco County42.7
90Grant County42.6
91Rockland County42.6
92Sherman County42.5
93Cibola County42.2
93Edwards County42.2
95San Bernardino County42.2
96Dakota County42
97Yakima County42
98Broward County41.9
99Floyd County41.8
100San Benito County41.7
101Montgomery County41.5
102Lamb County41.5
103Kings County41.5
104Riverside County41.3
105Terry County41.1
106Manassas city41.1
107San Joaquin County40.8
108Lea County40.8
109Bergen County40.6
110San Juan County40.5
111Haskell County40.5
112Fort Bend County40.2
113Glasscock County40.2
114Upton County40
115Santa Barbara County39.9
116Suffolk County39.4
117Taos County39.2
118Atascosa County39.2
119Dallam County39.1
120Glenn County39
121Andrews County38.9
122Fairfax County38.7
123Clark County38.4
124New York County38.3
125Schleicher County38.3
126Bexar County38.3
127Stanton County38.2
128Titus County38
129Garza County37.9
130North Slope Borough37.8
131Hardee County37.7
132Ventura County37.7
133Kinney County37.6
134Hale County37.6
135Orange County37.5
136Essex County37.4
137Socorro County37
138Brewster County36.8
139Grant County36.8
140Hidalgo County36.7
140San Diego County36.7
142Caldwell County36.3
143Hansford County36.2
144Yolo County36.1
145Dillingham Census Area36
146Kleberg County36
147Contra Costa County35.8
148Dawson County35.8
149De Baca County35.7
150Sutter County35.7
151Morrow County35.5
152Gwinnett County35.4
153Prince William County35.3
154Navajo County35.2
155Ward County35.1
156Cook County35.1
157Aleutians East Borough34.7
158Swisher County34.3
159Harding County34.2
160Bee County34.2
161Costilla County34.2
162Martin County34.1
163Sevier County34
164Nueces County34
165Napa County34
166Fairfax city33.9
167Chaves County33.9
167Westchester County33.9
169Crosby County33.9
170Richmond County33.9
171Clark County33.7
172Buena Vista County33.7
173Collier County33.6
174Santa Fe County33.5
175Hemphill County33.4
176Midland County33.3
177Palm Beach County33.1
178San Patricio County33
179Nobles County32.9
180Santa Cruz County32.9
181Jerome County32.8
182Somerset County32.7
183Loudoun County32.4
184Dawson County32.4
185Sacramento County32.4
186Potter County31.8
187Concho County31.7
187Providence County31.7
189Crawford County31.6
190Gonzales County31.3
191Kane County31.3
192Mercer County31.2
193Hockley County31.2
194Alexandria city31.1
194Northwest Arctic Borough31.1
196San Juan County31.1
197Hamilton County30.9
198Karnes County30.5
199Bastrop County30.3
200Hillsborough County30.2
201Kusilvak Census Area30.1
202Matagorda County30.1
203Whitfield County30
204Travis County30
205Calhoun County29.9
206Hood River County29.7
207Stevens County29.7
208Solano County29.6
209Hall County29.6
210Collin County29.6
211Lipscomb County29.4
212Lake County29.3
213Tarrant County29
214King County28.9
215Arlington County28.9
216Nassau County28.8
217Valencia County28.8
218Hall County28.5
219Howard County28.4
220DuPage County28.4
221Prince George's County28.2
222Adams County28.2
222Douglas County28.2
224Kodiak Island Borough28.2
225King County28.2
226Kearny County28
227Wyandotte County28
228Nome Census Area27.9
229Refugio County27.8
230Briscoe County27.6
231Cumberland County27.6
232Bernalillo County27.5
233Essex County27.5
234Phillips County27.4
235Knox County27.4
236Middlesex County27.4
237Cochise County27.3
238Pima County27.3
239Conejos County27.2
240Power County27.1
241Lincoln County27.1
242Brazoria County27
242Medina County27
244Live Oak County26.9
245Waller County26.8
246Honolulu County26.8
247Roosevelt County26.8
248Atlantic County26.7
249Hawaii County26.7
250Minidoka County26.7

Showing the top 250 of 3135. The Excel download has every row.

Other periods

About this ranking

People aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of all people aged 5 and over. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.

Measures the language used at home, not English ability: most people in this group also speak English. Spanish speakers are shown separately in spanish_at_home_share.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. 9 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs (US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat

MLA 9

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs, US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/language-other-than-english-at-home/us-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs. US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/language-other-than-english-at-home/us-counties?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs, US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/language-other-than-english-at-home/us-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_counties_by_population_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs: US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/language-other-than-english-at-home/us-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary\_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs: US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/29
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/language-other-than-english-at-home/us-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/language-other-than-english-at-home/us-counties?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2021/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2021-c16001.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank US counties by population speaking a language other than English at home using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"language_other_than_english_share","level":"province","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=language_other_than_english_share&level=province&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest population speaking a language other than English at home?

Starr County, with 92.3% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest population speaking a language other than English at home?

Owsley County, with 0% in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table C16001: people aged 5 and over who speak a language other than English at home, as a percentage of the population aged 5 and over, calculated with stored inputs. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 9 counties have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Population speaking a language other than English at home: other rankings

US counties: more rankings