Languages Spoken in Indiana: Map and County Data

43.3%

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 511,000 people age 5 and older in Indiana speak a language other than English at home, representing 8.3% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 283,000 speakers, followed by German and Chinese.

Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Indiana

The most spoken non-English languages in Indiana are Spanish, German, and Chinese. Spanish is spoken at home by about 283,000 people, or roughly 4.6% of the state’s population age 5+.

#1 non-English language

Spanish

About 283,000 speakers

#2 non-English language

German

About 33,700 speakers

#3 non-English language

Chinese

About 26,000 speakers

Key Language Findings for Indiana

About 511,000 people in Indiana speak a language other than English at home, representing 8.3% of residents age 5 and older.

The most spoken non-English languages in Indiana are Spanish, German, and Chinese.

Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in Indiana, with about 283,000 speakers, representing roughly 4.6% of residents age 5 and older.

Marion County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in Indiana, with about 71,400 speakers.

Marion County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 106,000 residents.

While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 11 of the 92 Indiana counties, including other West Germanic languages in LaGrange County.

How Language Use Varies Across Indiana Counties

Language patterns differ sharply by county. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of Indiana, but county-level rankings show large local communities speaking German, other West Germanic languages, Chinese, other Asian languages, African languages, Serbo-Croatian, Korean, and other languages.

Marion County has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while LaGrange County has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 43.3%. In LaGrange County, other West Germanic languages are the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.

English Proficiency and Language Access in Indiana

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

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Most Spoken Languages in Indiana by County

Search or sort the full county 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 county.

County	% Other Language	Other-Language Speakers	#1 Language	#2 Language	#3 Language	#4 Language	#5 Language	#6 Language	Population Age 5+
LaGrange County	43.3%	14,854	Other West Germanic 10,457	German 3,109	Spanish 1,071	Arabic 108	Chinese 48	Tagalog / Filipino 44	34,344
Elkhart County	19.1%	35,350	Spanish 22,814	Other West Germanic 6,678	German 2,305	Chinese 667	Russian 503	French 213	185,272
Adams County	17.0%	5,343	German 4,159	Spanish 667	Other West Germanic 454	Other Pacific Island 19	French 12	Japanese 12	31,385
Daviess County	16.0%	4,754	German 3,395	Spanish 1,100	Other Slavic 88	Japanese 41	Other West Germanic 38	French 32	29,684
Tippecanoe County	15.3%	26,058	Spanish 10,791	Chinese 6,039	Korean 1,482	Other Asian 894	Hindi 791	Arabic 618	169,845
Cass County	14.4%	5,197	Spanish 4,344	Other Asian 179	German 173	French 109	Japanese 74	Vietnamese 44	36,060
Lake County	14.4%	66,044	Spanish 46,478	Serbo-Croatian 2,848	Other Slavic 2,587	Greek 1,820	Polish 1,802	Arabic 1,283	460,231
Clinton County	13.1%	4,016	Spanish 3,840	Japanese 62	Other Asian 35	German 33	Gujarati 13	Urdu 13	30,636
Marion County	12.5%	106,999	Spanish 71,370	African languages 5,563	Other Asian 4,738	Chinese 3,981	French 3,172	Arabic 2,294	856,679
Noble County	11.8%	5,247	Spanish 3,916	Other West Germanic 714	German 281	Arabic 97	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 48	Korean 35	44,464
Marshall County	11.7%	5,139	Spanish 3,266	Other West Germanic 849	German 665	Chinese 120	Tagalog / Filipino 68	Laotian 40	43,980
Monroe County	10.7%	14,505	Chinese 3,519	Spanish 2,977	Korean 1,375	French 669	Other Asian 508	German 491	136,007
Bartholomew County	10.4%	7,753	Spanish 3,754	Other Asian 869	Chinese 699	Other Indic 519	Hindi 499	Japanese 263	74,235
Kosciusko County	10.2%	7,462	Spanish 4,288	Other West Germanic 1,305	German 720	French 143	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 130	Greek 124	72,859
Allen County	10.0%	33,695	Spanish 16,667	Other Asian 4,026	German 2,843	Serbo-Croatian 1,158	Vietnamese 913	Chinese 796	337,183
Hamilton County	9.5%	26,096	Spanish 7,346	Chinese 3,121	Other Asian 2,188	Arabic 1,583	Urdu 1,164	German 1,133	275,595
St. Joseph County	9.4%	23,485	Spanish 13,642	Chinese 1,278	African languages 809	German 807	French 691	Other Indic 642	249,766
Dubois County	7.6%	3,031	Spanish 2,309	German 463	French 102	Greek 49	Portuguese 37	Chinese 32	39,689
Fulton County	7.0%	1,339	Spanish 793	Other West Germanic 314	German 72	French 47	Tagalog / Filipino 46	Vietnamese 26	19,258
White County	6.7%	1,531	Spanish 1,257	German 74	Polish 71	Tagalog / Filipino 43	French 22	Italian 21	22,911
Porter County	6.5%	10,147	Spanish 5,529	German 725	Serbo-Croatian 426	Chinese 381	Greek 314	Polish 294	157,277
Jackson County	6.0%	2,414	Spanish 1,763	Japanese 274	German 83	Tagalog / Filipino 78	Vietnamese 65	French 29	40,502
Johnson County	6.0%	8,127	Spanish 3,195	Other Indic 1,500	French 531	African languages 398	Chinese 322	Hindi 297	136,210
LaPorte County	6.0%	6,276	Spanish 4,209	Polish 266	German 246	Arabic 217	Other West Germanic 208	French 190	104,681
Hendricks County	5.9%	8,434	Spanish 3,296	Other Indic 830	African languages 714	German 534	Vietnamese 432	Hindi 350	143,853
Jasper County	5.6%	1,749	Spanish 1,215	German 125	Scandinavian 92	Other Slavic 73	Other West Germanic 52	Tagalog / Filipino 47	31,412
Benton County	5.1%	418	Spanish 351	German 26	Other Slavic 19	Other Asian 7	Portuguese 3	Hindi 3	8,193
Montgomery County	5.0%	1,791	Spanish 1,295	German 137	Tagalog / Filipino 102	Other West Germanic 69	French 54	Other Asian 51	35,857
Vigo County	5.0%	5,073	Spanish 2,112	Arabic 470	Tagalog / Filipino 378	German 300	Chinese 237	Korean 215	101,928
Clark County	4.8%	5,102	Spanish 3,728	German 330	Urdu 164	Arabic 119	African languages 119	French 108	105,893
Carroll County	4.7%	890	Spanish 651	Arabic 109	German 37	Japanese 22	French 20	Italian 17	18,976
Miami County	4.7%	1,622	Spanish 834	German 377	Other West Germanic 101	Other Slavic 86	Other Indic 49	Italian 25	34,316
Wayne County	4.7%	3,018	Spanish 1,462	Other West Germanic 439	German 313	Tagalog / Filipino 180	French 100	Korean 70	63,773
Parke County	4.5%	732	German 243	Other West Germanic 235	Spanish 168	French 52	Scandinavian 13	Laotian 12	16,089
Boone County	4.4%	2,482	Spanish 902	Chinese 301	Hindi 221	Urdu 106	Vietnamese 106	Russian 102	56,633
Jay County	4.3%	850	Spanish 443	German 220	Other West Germanic 84	Chinese 29	Polish 24	Korean 24	19,742
Shelby County	4.3%	1,780	Spanish 1,293	Japanese 140	German 71	Chinese 58	Polish 46	Tagalog / Filipino 32	41,819
Switzerland County	4.2%	410	Other West Germanic 131	Spanish 97	German 85	French 59	Chinese 22	Tagalog / Filipino 14	9,768
Decatur County	4.0%	988	Spanish 368	Tagalog / Filipino 161	German 144	Japanese 80	Other West Germanic 78	Italian 41	24,642
Floyd County	4.0%	2,841	Spanish 1,762	Chinese 230	German 211	French 104	Urdu 72	Gujarati 70	71,434
Howard County	3.9%	3,061	Spanish 1,720	German 317	Chinese 236	Vietnamese 149	French 102	Tagalog / Filipino 87	77,761
Starke County	3.9%	854	Spanish 513	Serbo-Croatian 60	French 49	German 47	Chinese 42	Italian 32	21,865
Vanderburgh County	3.9%	6,594	Spanish 3,122	Japanese 586	German 461	Tagalog / Filipino 358	French 288	Vietnamese 220	169,745
Spencer County	3.7%	727	Spanish 488	German 183	French 21	Hungarian 12	Other Pacific Island 10	Polish 4	19,628
Steuben County	3.5%	1,147	Spanish 739	Arabic 128	French 64	German 39	Japanese 33	Polish 23	32,446
Warrick County	3.5%	1,997	Spanish 566	Other Indic 184	Other Asian 157	Vietnamese 150	Urdu 116	Chinese 107	57,449
Wells County	3.5%	899	Spanish 456	German 171	Other West Germanic 61	French 55	Korean 37	Tagalog / Filipino 29	25,996
Madison County	3.4%	4,200	Spanish 2,911	German 351	Vietnamese 241	French 206	Korean 88	Chinese 57	122,595
DeKalb County	3.3%	1,293	Spanish 717	German 176	Other West Germanic 169	French 53	Urdu 36	Other Indo-European 33	39,783
Delaware County	3.3%	3,698	Spanish 1,614	Chinese 307	Other Asian 236	German 234	Hindi 224	Portuguese 159	111,258
Newton County	3.3%	446	Spanish 340	French 36	Greek 30	Tagalog / Filipino 18	Portuguese 7	Other Pacific Island 6	13,364
Fountain County	3.2%	505	Spanish 297	German 78	Other Indo-European 32	Italian 25	Portuguese 24	Other West Germanic 16	15,854
Tipton County	3.2%	477	Spanish 354	German 37	French 30	Italian 25	Scandinavian 13	Korean 9	14,862
Grant County	3.1%	2,038	Spanish 1,036	Chinese 322	German 124	Polish 68	French 58	Vietnamese 54	65,068
Putnam County	3.1%	1,118	Spanish 458	Chinese 136	Other Indo-European 94	French 61	Arabic 48	Serbo-Croatian 44	35,844
Scott County	2.9%	650	Spanish 481	Tagalog / Filipino 61	French 41	German 34	Scandinavian 18	Japanese 15	22,397
Vermillion County	2.9%	433	Spanish 283	Arabic 54	Hindi 25	German 19	Other Indo-European 15	Italian 11	15,026
Wabash County	2.9%	902	Spanish 563	German 77	French 50	Other Indo-European 40	Chinese 29	Korean 29	30,642
Jefferson County	2.8%	868	Spanish 509	Chinese 177	German 76	French 27	Japanese 23	African languages 19	30,779
Huntington County	2.7%	939	Spanish 399	Chinese 133	German 114	Hindi 74	Japanese 41	French 36	34,761
Lawrence County	2.6%	1,124	Spanish 426	French Creole 145	Other West Germanic 130	Chinese 120	German 102	Hindi 64	43,279
Ripley County	2.6%	702	Spanish 339	Gujarati 224	German 68	Chinese 27	French 11	Other Indic 8	26,842
Perry County	2.5%	465	German 205	Spanish 119	Other West Germanic 48	Greek 40	French 34	Urdu 8	18,324
Dearborn County	2.2%	1,013	Spanish 437	German 248	Tagalog / Filipino 62	Chinese 56	Gujarati 52	Other Slavic 42	46,989
Hancock County	2.2%	1,478	Spanish 915	Tagalog / Filipino 111	German 108	Japanese 82	Serbo-Croatian 51	Chinese 51	67,275
Henry County	2.2%	1,041	Spanish 622	Greek 97	Chinese 57	German 50	French 33	Other Indic 30	46,795
Posey County	2.1%	495	Spanish 212	German 132	Chinese 41	Hindi 39	French 30	Italian 10	24,084
Morgan County	2.0%	1,331	Spanish 782	Other Slavic 92	Chinese 90	German 72	Other Indic 41	French 39	65,414
Pulaski County	2.0%	246	Spanish 119	German 59	French 16	Other Slavic 13	Other West Germanic 11	Greek 11	12,333
Randolph County	2.0%	485	Spanish 359	German 67	French 15	Japanese 12	Greek 10	Tagalog / Filipino 6	24,101
Sullivan County	2.0%	404	Spanish 214	German 69	Chinese 47	Arabic 20	African languages 20	Other West Germanic 17	20,011
Washington County	2.0%	526	Spanish 171	German 119	French 110	Other West Germanic 56	Chinese 31	Tagalog / Filipino 20	26,268
Whitley County	2.0%	638	Spanish 296	German 245	French 28	Tagalog / Filipino 28	Russian 26	Other Indo-European 5	31,366
Franklin County	1.8%	379	Spanish 130	German 118	Tagalog / Filipino 39	Japanese 35	Other Pacific Island 24	Russian 13	21,647
Gibson County	1.8%	555	Spanish 344	German 81	Korean 45	Tagalog / Filipino 27	French 22	Russian 21	31,565
Orange County	1.8%	339	Other West Germanic 132	German 107	Spanish 50	French 29	Vietnamese 12	Scandinavian 7	18,579
Blackford County	1.7%	199	Spanish 137	Arabic 24	German 14	Other Native North American 12	Chinese 8	Italian 4	11,789
Harrison County	1.7%	646	Spanish 344	French 90	German 66	Chinese 44	Other Indic 38	Hungarian 18	37,079
Jennings County	1.7%	438	Spanish 260	German 83	Chinese 27	French 21	Other West Germanic 16	Japanese 13	26,399
Rush County	1.7%	278	Spanish 199	German 31	French 21	Other Slavic 13	Greek 9	Other Pacific Island 5	16,090
Martin County	1.6%	154	German 50	Other West Germanic 34	Vietnamese 30	Spanish 27	Russian 7	Portuguese 6	9,652
Owen County	1.5%	307	Other West Germanic 121	Spanish 100	German 41	Vietnamese 29	Russian 6	Polish 6	20,097
Union County	1.5%	101	Spanish 31	Serbo-Croatian 19	German 18	French 13	Japanese 11	Russian 9	6,909
Warren County	1.5%	116	Spanish 97	Russian 8	Tagalog / Filipino 5	Portuguese 4	German 2	—	7,907
Knox County	1.4%	504	Spanish 221	Chinese 70	French 53	Tagalog / Filipino 51	German 22	Arabic 19	35,848
Brown County	1.3%	191	Spanish 80	German 30	Thai 30	French 24	Italian 14	Tagalog / Filipino 13	14,427
Clay County	1.3%	317	Spanish 198	French 45	German 43	Vietnamese 17	Japanese 7	Other West Germanic 4	25,118
Greene County	1.3%	397	Spanish 142	German 93	Tagalog / Filipino 46	Thai 39	French 23	Other West Germanic 22	31,052
Crawford County	1.2%	117	Spanish 98	Portuguese 5	Japanese 5	German 2	Polish 2	Other Native North American 2	10,009
Pike County	1.2%	148	German 49	Spanish 32	Other West Germanic 24	Polish 15	Korean 11	Tagalog / Filipino 10	11,964
Fayette County	0.9%	213	Spanish 130	Other West Germanic 25	Tagalog / Filipino 23	Arabic 16	German 10	Other Slavic 5	22,528
Ohio County	0.9%	51	Spanish 51	—	—	—	—	—	5,762

No counties found.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2011–2015 5-Year Estimates, Table B16001 · Population age 5 and over

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 county 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 counties and less common language groups.

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Languages Spoken in Indiana: Map and County Data

Languages Spoken Across Indiana Counties

Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Indiana

Key Language Findings for Indiana

How Language Use Varies Across Indiana Counties

English Proficiency and Language Access in Indiana

Plan Language Access Around the Communities You Serve

About the Data

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