Languages Spoken in Alaska: Map and Borough Data
Languages Spoken Across Alaska Boroughs and Census Areas
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 110,000 people age 5 and older in Alaska speak a language other than English at home, representing 16.2% of the state’s population age 5+. Other Native North American languages are the most spoken non-English language group, with about 30,200 speakers, followed by Spanish and Tagalog / Filipino.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Alaska
The most spoken non-English languages in Alaska are other Native North American languages, Spanish, and Tagalog / Filipino. Other Native North American languages are spoken at home by about 30,200 people, or roughly 4.5% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for Alaska
About 110,000 people in Alaska speak a language other than English at home, representing 16.2% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in Alaska are other Native North American languages, Spanish, and Tagalog / Filipino.
Other Native North American languages are the most spoken non-English language group in Alaska, with about 30,200 speakers, representing roughly 4.5% of residents age 5 and older.
Bethel Census Area has the largest population speaking other Native North American languages in Alaska, with about 9,600 speakers.
Anchorage Municipality has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 48,900 residents.
While other Native North American languages are the most spoken non-English language group statewide, another language leads in 16 of the 29 Alaska boroughs and census areas, including Spanish in Anchorage Municipality.
How Language Use Varies Across Alaska Boroughs and Census Areas
Language patterns differ sharply by borough or census area. Other Native North American languages are the most spoken non-English language group statewide, but they lead in only 13 of the 29 Alaska boroughs and census areas, and borough-level rankings show large local communities speaking Spanish, Tagalog / Filipino, other Pacific Island languages, Russian, German, African languages, Korean, and other languages.
Anchorage Municipality has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while Bethel Census Area has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 63.5%. In Anchorage Municipality, Spanish is the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.
English Proficiency and Language Access in Alaska
Speaking a language other than English at home does not necessarily mean someone has limited English proficiency. Census table B16001 also separates language groups by whether residents report speaking English "very well" or less than "very well," providing additional context for organizations planning language access services. For a broader look at limited English proficiency across the country, explore Boostlingo's LEP State Map.
Plan Language Access Around the Communities You Serve
Boostlingo helps healthcare, government, education, legal, and business organizations connect people with interpreting and translation services across hundreds of languages.
Explore Interpreter ServicesSearch or sort the full borough or census area dataset to compare the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home and the six most spoken non-English languages in each borough or census area.
| Borough / Census Area | % Other Language | Other-Language Speakers | #1 Language | #2 Language | #3 Language | #4 Language | #5 Language | #6 Language | Population Age 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel Census Area | 10,098 | Other Native North American 9,625 | Korean 118 | Spanish 103 | Other Indo-European 68 | Other Slavic 46 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 40 | 15,894 | |
| Aleutians East Borough | 1,600 | Tagalog / Filipino 877 | Spanish 328 | African languages 258 | Other Pacific Island 40 | Vietnamese 21 | Russian 13 | 3,197 | |
| Aleutians West Census Area | 2,735 | Tagalog / Filipino 1,311 | Other Pacific Island 394 | Spanish 367 | Vietnamese 230 | Other Native North American 151 | African languages 102 | 5,468 | |
| Kusilvak Census Area | 3,180 | Other Native North American 3,119 | Spanish 19 | Other Pacific Island 14 | Tagalog / Filipino 13 | African languages 8 | Russian 5 | 6,920 | |
| Dillingham Census Area | 1,754 | Other Native North American 1,605 | Spanish 64 | Tagalog / Filipino 28 | Vietnamese 16 | Other Pacific Island 12 | Scandinavian 7 | 4,455 | |
| Northwest Arctic Borough | 2,445 | Other Native North American 2,281 | Spanish 61 | Korean 23 | Tagalog / Filipino 17 | Laotian 12 | Portuguese 10 | 6,896 | |
| North Slope Borough | 3,072 | Other Native North American 2,048 | Other Pacific Island 363 | Tagalog / Filipino 268 | Spanish 213 | Thai 49 | German 37 | 8,915 | |
| Nome Census Area | 2,539 | Other Native North American 2,294 | Spanish 77 | Tagalog / Filipino 74 | Vietnamese 25 | French 13 | Polish 12 | 8,788 | |
| Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | 1,638 | Russian 785 | Other Native North American 284 | Spanish 240 | Hebrew 98 | Other Slavic 80 | German 40 | 6,483 | |
| Kodiak Island Borough | 2,972 | Tagalog / Filipino 1,415 | Spanish 565 | Other Pacific Island 450 | Other Native North American 137 | Thai 94 | Russian 67 | 12,748 | |
| Anchorage Municipality | 48,982 | Spanish 13,894 | Tagalog / Filipino 8,586 | Other Pacific Island 4,400 | Other Native North American 3,757 | Hmong 3,498 | Korean 3,025 | 276,810 | |
| Yakutat City and Borough | 100 | Other Native North American 58 | Tagalog / Filipino 29 | Vietnamese 5 | Spanish 4 | Other Indo-European 2 | Other Pacific Island 2 | 596 | |
| Lake and Peninsula Borough | 195 | Other Native North American 117 | Other Pacific Island 27 | Spanish 16 | Tagalog / Filipino 13 | Russian 12 | French 4 | 1,350 | |
| Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | 734 | Other Native North American 621 | German 30 | Spanish 28 | Other / unspecified 15 | Tagalog / Filipino 11 | French 6 | 5,180 | |
| Petersburg Borough | 392 | Spanish 217 | Other Native North American 40 | African languages 30 | Tagalog / Filipino 22 | Russian 21 | Chinese 13 | 2,977 | |
| Skagway Municipality | 123 | Tagalog / Filipino 40 | Spanish 37 | Hindi 11 | French 9 | German 9 | Other West Germanic 6 | 934 | |
| Denali Borough | 238 | Spanish 72 | Other Slavic 41 | Thai 39 | French 27 | Serbo-Croatian 11 | Other Pacific Island 10 | 1,918 | |
| Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | 238 | Other Native North American 122 | Tagalog / Filipino 40 | Spanish 39 | Japanese 12 | French Creole 8 | Other Slavic 7 | 2,012 | |
| Haines Borough | 288 | Other Native North American 86 | Spanish 84 | French 61 | Polish 27 | Scandinavian 9 | Thai 8 | 2,470 | |
| Sitka City and Borough | 933 | Tagalog / Filipino 301 | Spanish 191 | Other Native North American 104 | Russian 78 | German 55 | Korean 52 | 8,373 | |
| Juneau City and Borough | 3,303 | Spanish 751 | Tagalog / Filipino 731 | Other Pacific Island 336 | Other Native North American 299 | Chinese 176 | Vietnamese 176 | 30,540 | |
| Fairbanks North Star Borough | 8,800 | Spanish 2,826 | Other Native North American 1,175 | German 922 | Tagalog / Filipino 518 | French 517 | Korean 471 | 91,759 | |
| Ketchikan Gateway Borough | 1,227 | Tagalog / Filipino 521 | Spanish 266 | Other Native North American 106 | Other Pacific Island 105 | French 25 | Scandinavian 25 | 12,802 | |
| Valdez-Cordova Census Area | 798 | Spanish 241 | Tagalog / Filipino 235 | Other Native North American 156 | Polish 101 | German 20 | Laotian 14 | 9,021 | |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 6,989 | Spanish 1,584 | Russian 1,475 | Other Native North American 936 | German 509 | Other Slavic 480 | Tagalog / Filipino 234 | 89,193 | |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough | 4,070 | Spanish 1,196 | Russian 867 | Other Native North American 831 | Tagalog / Filipino 311 | French 207 | German 109 | 53,561 | |
| Bristol Bay Borough | 64 | Other Native North American 30 | Spanish 19 | Tagalog / Filipino 7 | German 3 | Greek 2 | French Creole 1 | 923 | |
| Wrangell City and Borough | 108 | Tagalog / Filipino 26 | Spanish 20 | Other Native North American 19 | Hmong 17 | Other Slavic 9 | Other Pacific Island 8 | 2,298 | |
| Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area | 263 | Other Native North American 176 | Spanish 33 | Tagalog / Filipino 27 | Other Pacific Island 7 | Vietnamese 6 | French 5 | 5,941 |
About the Data
Data on this page comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2011–2015 5-Year Estimates, table B16001, Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over. Statewide and borough or census area estimates use the same Census table so the figures can be compared consistently across the page.
The estimates describe languages spoken at home among residents age 5 and older. Census estimates include margins of error, particularly for smaller boroughs and census areas and less common language groups.