Linguistic Demography of the United States in Year 2000

• Activity Number: 62
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Monday, August 12, 2002 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Social Statistics Section*
• Author(s): Gillian Stevens*+
• Affiliation(s): University of Illinois
• Keywords: linguistic diversity ; language minority ; 2000 Census ; demography

Abstract

In 1990, U.S. census data suggested that one in seven U.S. residents spoke a non-English language at home and that a large minority of the non-English speakers was not fully proficient in English. Since 1990, high levels of immigration from non-English language countries have increased the absolute and relative numbers of minority language speakers. In this paper, I use data from the 2000 U.S. Census to describe how country-specific patterns of migration have produced an American linguistic mosaic. I show that linguistic diversity has increased along almost all dimensions. I first show the increasing variety of non-English languages spoken by Americans. I then show how the social and demographic characteristics of non-English speakers vary dramatically across minority language subpopulations. Finally, I discuss how the settlement and migration patterns of minority language speakers have produced spatially defined communities that vary widely with respect to the relative numbers of residents speaking any minority language, a minority language in common, and English.