U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Native North American Languages 

Spoken at Home in the United States 

and Puerto Rico: 2006–2010

American Community Survey Briefs

By

Julie Siebens

and 

Tiffany Julian 

ACSBR/10-10

Issued December 2011

INTRODUCTION

This report presents data on the 

frequency and percentage of the 

U.S. population aged 5 and over who 

spoke a Native North American language at home.1 The data are based on 

5-year estimates from the 2006–2010 

American Community Survey (ACS) and 

the 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community 

Survey. For the first time ever, this 

aggregation of ACS data over a 5-year 

period allows us to study small segments 

of the population, such as speakers of 

Native North American languages.

These data come from a multipart question addressing language ability. The 

first part of the question asks “Does 

this person speak a language other than 

English at home?” Respondents who 

answer “Yes” are then asked to write 

in the name of that language. Data on 

language ability is used to meet the communication needs of hospitals, schools, 

and other agencies that serve non-English 

speakers. In addition, language use 

data are used for bilingual ballot provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Respondents are also asked to report 

the one or more race groups they 

consider themselves to be. Part of 

this report focuses on people who 

identify themselves as American 

Indian or Alaska Native alone or in 

combination with other races. 

1 For the purposes of this brief, “Native North 

American languages” does not include languages 

native to Hawaii, Central America, or South America. 

For more information on uses of these and other 

languages in the United States, go to 

<www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data

/index.html>.

NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN 

LANGUAGES SPOKEN

The ACS codes 381 distinct non-English 

languages, and 169 of these are Native 

North American languages. Although 

Native North American languages make 

up most of the languages coded, the 

speakers of these languages number 

less than half a million. The size of 

the Native North American language 

speaking population is dwarfed by the 

60 million people speaking a different 

non-English language and the 227 million people who speak English only.

What Is the American Community 

Survey?

The American Community Survey (ACS) 

is a nationwide survey designed to 

provide communities with reliable and 

timely demographic, social, economic, 

and housing data for the nation, states, 

congressional districts, counties, places, 

and other localities every year. It has an 

annual sample size of about 3 million 

addresses across the United States and 

Puerto Rico and includes both housing 

units and group quarters (e.g., nursing 

facilities and prisons). The ACS is conducted in every county throughout the 

nation, and every municipio in Puerto 

Rico, where it is called the Puerto Rico 

Community Survey. Beginning in 2006, 

ACS data for 2005 were released for 

geographic areas with populations of 

65,000 and greater. For information on 

the ACS sample design and other topics, 

visit <www.census.gov/acs/www>.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1. 

Most Common Native North American Languages and Residence in American Indian or 

Alaska Native Areas for the Population 5 Years and Over

Language spoken

Speakers of Native North American languages

Estimate

Margin of 

error1

 (±)

Residence in American Indian or 

Alaska Native area2

Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (±)

 All Native North American language speakers . . 372,095 4,897 237,391 3,465

Navajo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169,471 3,571 112,482 2,628

Yupik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,950 687 16,019 502

Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,616 1,201 9,592 795

Apache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,063 928 10,664 785

Keres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,945 932 9,979 685

Cherokee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,610 967 4,685 541

Choctaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,343 870 6,546 747

Zuni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,686 1,280 8,647 1,280

Ojibwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,371 622 3,298 390

Pima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,270 726 5,363 648

Inupik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,203 517 5,707 450

Hopi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,634 967 4,570 676

Tewa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,176 569 3,649 402

Muskogee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,064 598 3,054 389

Crow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,705 511 2,816 434

Shoshoni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,211 385 1,319 267

Cheyenne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,156 427 1,167 179

Eskimo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,076 262 1,492 216

Tiwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,009 474 1,466 323

American Indian language (not specified) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,298 696 2,025 346

Other Native North American language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,238 1,713 22,851 996

1

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error 

in relation to the size of the estimates, the less reliable the estimate. When added to and subtracted from the estimate, the margin of error forms the 90 percent 

confidence interval. 2

 For the purposes of this brief, American Indian or Alaska Native areas do not include native Hawaiian homelands.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006–2010 American Community Survey, 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community Survey.

Table 2. 

Language Spoken by Age for the Population 5 Years and Over Living in an American 

Indian or Alaska Native Area1

Age

Total

Language spoken at home

Native North American 

language English only Other language

Estimate

Margin of 

error2

 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±)

 All ages . . . . . . . 4,397,906 8,638 5.4 0.1 87.0 0.1 7.6 0.1

5 to 17 years . . . . . . . . . . . 911,252 3,251 5.1 0.2 87.5 0.2 7.5 0.2

18 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . 2,880,509 6,646 5.6 0.1 86.2 0.1 8.2 0.1

65 years and over . . . . . . . 606,145 2,157 5.1 0.1 90.0 0.2 4.9 0.2

1

 For the purposes of this brief, American Indian or Alaska Native areas do not include native Hawaiian homelands. 2

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error 

in relation to the size of the estimates, the less reliable the estimate. When added to and subtracted from the estimate, the margin of error forms the 90 percent 

confidence interval.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006–2010 American Community Survey, 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community Survey.
U.S. Census Bureau 3

Table 1 shows the number of 

people aged 5 and over who spoke 

a Native North American language for the 20 most frequently 

spoken of these languages in the 

United States and Puerto Rico. The 

table also separates out Native 

North American language speakers that reside in an American 

Indian or Alaska Native area 

(AIANA).2 Native North American 

language speakers number 

372,000. Most of these speakers (237,000) live in an AIANA.

People spoke Navajo more often 

than any other Native North 

American language. Over 169,000 

2 “American Indian or Alaska Native area” 

is a Census Bureau term referring to these 

entity types: federally recognized 

American Indian reservations and offreservation trust land areas, the tribal 

subdivisions that can divide these entities, 

state-recognized American Indian reservations, Alaska Native regional corporations, 

Hawaiian homelands, Alaska Native village 

statistical areas, Oklahoma tribal statistical 

areas, tribal designated statistical areas, and 

state designated tribal statistical areas. For 

the purposes of this brief, American Indian 

or Alaska Native areas do not include native 

Hawaiian homelands.

people spoke this language nationally. Most of these Navajo speakers (112,000) lived in an AIANA. 

Navajo speakers numbered nearly 

9 times larger than the second 

and third most commonly spoken 

languages of Yupik and Dakota, 

with both languages having 

approximately 19,000 speakers. While 84.5 percent of Yupik 

speakers lived in an AIANA, 51.5 

percent of Dakota speakers did.

Although the majority of Native 

North American language speakers 

resided in an AIANA, only a small 

percentage of the people living 

in these areas actually spoke a 

Native North American language. 

Table 2 shows the percentage of 

people living in these areas who 

spoke a Native North American 

language, English only, or some 

other language, by age. Of people 

living in an AIANA, 5.4 percent 

spoke a Native North American 

language, and this percentage 

did not vary greatly across age 

groups.3 Spanish was the dominant 

language among the population 

speaking a non-English and nonNative North American language. 

In fact, Spanish speakers made 

up 5 percent of the population 

living in an AIANA, making them 

almost as common as speakers of 

Native North American languages. 

Among those who identified as 

American Indian or Alaska Native 

alone, older people reported 

speaking a Native North American 

language more often than younger 

people (Table 3). Over 1 in 5 of 

these people aged 65 and over 

spoke such a language, while about 

1 in 10 people aged 5 to 17 did 

so. Among those who identified as 

American Indian or Alaska Native 

in combination, people aged 65 

and over were slightly less likely 

than other people to speak a 

Native North American language, 

3 The percentage of people aged 5 to 17 

speaking a Native North American language 

did not differ significantly from the percentage of people aged 65 and over.

Table 3. 

Language Spoken by American Indian or Alaska Native Race Types and Age for the 

Population 5 Years and Over

Age and race

Total

Language spoken at home

Native North American 

language English only Other language

Estimate

Margin of 

error1

 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error1 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error1 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error1 (±)

All ages

AIAN alone 2 . . . . . . . . . . 2,290,257 13,186 14.8 0.2 71.9 0.3 13.3 0.3

AIAN in combination . . . . 2,100,625 12,508 0.7 – 88.0 0.2 11.4 0.2

5 to 17 years

AIAN alone . . . . . . . . . . . 540,973 5,457 11.0 0.4 78.3 0.6 10.7 0.5

AIAN in combination . . . . 542,913 5,998 0.7 0.1 89.8 0.4 9.5 0.4

18 to 64 years

AIAN alone . . . . . . . . . . . 1,574,932 9,747 15.2 0.2 70.3 0.3 14.4 0.3

AIAN in combination . . . . 1,381,959 9,096 0.7 0.1 86.9 0.2 12.4 0.2

65 years and over

AIAN alone . . . . . . . . . . . 174,352 2,153 22.3 0.5 66.4 0.6 11.3 0.5

AIAN in combination . . . . 175,753 2,099 0.4 0.1 90.5 0.5 9.2 0.5

– Represents or rounds to zero. 1

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error 

in relation to the size of the estimates, the less reliable the estimate. When added to and subtracted from the estimate, the margin of error forms the 90 percent 

confidence interval. 2

 AIAN represents American Indian or Alaska Native.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006–2010 American Community Survey, 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community Survey.
4 U.S. Census Bureau 0 200 mi 0 400 km 0 300 km 0 150 mi 0 300 mi 0 590 km 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006–2010 American Community Survey, 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community Survey. Figure 1. Number of Speakers of Native North American Languages, by County: 2006–2010
U.S. Census Bureau 5

although the two younger age 

groups were not significantly 

different from each other. 

NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN 

LANGUAGE USE BY COUNTY

Figure 1 displays the number of 

Native North American language 

speakers by county. Speakers of 

Native North American languages 

concentrated most heavily in the 

states of Alaska, Arizona, and 

New Mexico. Sixty-five percent of 

Native North American language 

speakers lived in these three 

states. Just nine counties within 

these states contained half of the 

nation’s Native North American 

language speakers.4 Apache County 

in Arizona had 37,000 speakers of a Native North American 

language, making it the highest 

4 These counties were: Bethel Census 

Area in Alaska; Apache County, Coconino 

County, Maricopa County, and Navajo 

County in Arizona; and Bernalillo County, 

McKinley County, San Juan County, and 

Sandoval County in New Mexico.

in the nation. McKinley County, 

New Mexico, had the second most 

speakers, 33,000. Together, about 

20 percent of all Native North 

American language speakers in the 

nation lived in these two counties.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Census Bureau Web site provides more data on language spoken at home in the United States. 

Broad categories of languages for 

detailed geographies can be found 

at the American Factfinder 

Web site <http://factfinder2

.census.gov>. Additional tables on 

detailed languages, including more 

than 100 Native North American 

languages, can be found at the 

American Community Survey language Web site at <www.census

.gov/hhes/socdemo/language

/index.html>.

SOURCE AND ACCURACY

Data presented in this report are 

based on people and households 

that responded to the ACS between 

2006 to 2010. The resulting estimates are representative of the 

civilian noninstitutionalized population. All comparisons presented in 

this report have taken sampling 

error into account and are significant at the 90 percent confidence 

level unless otherwise noted. Due 

to rounding, some details may not 

sum to totals. For information on 

sampling and estimation methods, 

confidentiality protection, and 

sampling and nonsampling errors, 

please see the “ACS Accuracy of the 

Data” document located at 

<www.census.gov/acs

/www/Downloads/data

_documentation/Accuracy

/MultiyearACSAccuracyofData2010

.pdf>.