Languages Spoken in Louisiana: Map and Parish Data
Languages Spoken Across Louisiana Parishes
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 366,000 people age 5 and older in Louisiana speak a language other than English at home, representing 8.5% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 156,000 speakers, followed by French and Vietnamese.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Louisiana
The most spoken non-English languages in Louisiana are Spanish, French, and Vietnamese. Spanish is spoken at home by about 156,000 people, or roughly 3.6% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for Louisiana
About 366,000 people in Louisiana speak a language other than English at home, representing 8.5% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in Louisiana are Spanish, French, and Vietnamese.
Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in Louisiana, with about 156,000 speakers, representing roughly 3.6% of residents age 5 and older.
Jefferson Parish has the largest Spanish-speaking population in Louisiana, with about 45,900 speakers.
Jefferson Parish has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 72,300 residents.
While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 19 of the 64 Louisiana parishes, including French in Lafayette Parish.
How Language Use Varies Across Louisiana Parishes
Language patterns differ sharply by parish. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of Louisiana, but parish-level rankings show large local communities speaking French, Vietnamese, French Creole, Arabic, Laotian, German, Chinese, and other languages.
Jefferson Parish has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while St. Martin Parish has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 20.0%. In Lafayette Parish, French is the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.
English Proficiency and Language Access in Louisiana
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 parish 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 parish.
| Parish | % Other Language | Other-Language Speakers | #1 Language | #2 Language | #3 Language | #4 Language | #5 Language | #6 Language | Population Age 5+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Martin Parish | 9,880 | French 6,887 | French Creole 1,716 | Spanish 905 | Laotian 161 | Vietnamese 142 | Japanese 25 | 49,516 | |
| Evangeline Parish | 6,137 | French 4,925 | Spanish 751 | French Creole 412 | Other Indic 19 | Arabic 14 | Navajo 8 | 31,387 | |
| Vermilion Parish | 10,593 | French 8,026 | Spanish 1,116 | Vietnamese 1,053 | Chinese 83 | Other Indo-European 76 | Other Asian 72 | 54,931 | |
| Jefferson Parish | 72,365 | Spanish 45,932 | Vietnamese 8,294 | French 3,408 | Arabic 2,782 | Chinese 2,047 | French Creole 1,482 | 407,505 | |
| Lafourche Parish | 13,754 | French 9,310 | Spanish 3,286 | Vietnamese 478 | German 147 | Hindi 102 | Korean 62 | 91,127 | |
| Assumption Parish | 3,170 | French 2,803 | Spanish 358 | German 9 | — | — | — | 21,780 | |
| Lafayette Parish | 29,085 | French 15,081 | Spanish 7,944 | Vietnamese 1,274 | French Creole 1,027 | Chinese 742 | Arabic 447 | 215,676 | |
| Iberia Parish | 8,964 | French 4,944 | Spanish 2,117 | Laotian 905 | Vietnamese 383 | Arabic 238 | French Creole 153 | 68,599 | |
| Acadia Parish | 7,386 | French 6,022 | Spanish 844 | German 170 | French Creole 103 | Tagalog / Filipino 68 | Other Indic 66 | 57,599 | |
| Avoyelles Parish | 4,716 | French 4,024 | Spanish 304 | Tagalog / Filipino 172 | French Creole 72 | Urdu 50 | Other Pacific Island 41 | 38,590 | |
| St. Mary Parish | 5,654 | Spanish 3,035 | French 1,402 | Vietnamese 603 | Chinese 181 | German 147 | French Creole 75 | 49,827 | |
| Allen Parish | 2,299 | French 936 | Spanish 913 | Other Native North American 100 | French Creole 78 | Arabic 78 | Vietnamese 45 | 23,993 | |
| Terrebonne Parish | 10,061 | French 4,845 | Spanish 3,203 | Vietnamese 862 | Arabic 231 | Other Pacific Island 199 | Chinese 184 | 104,610 | |
| St. Landry Parish | 7,331 | French 5,875 | Spanish 801 | French Creole 350 | Vietnamese 112 | German 65 | Gujarati 51 | 77,090 | |
| Cameron Parish | 589 | French 390 | Spanish 156 | Tagalog / Filipino 22 | Italian 11 | French Creole 10 | — | 6,365 | |
| Jefferson Davis Parish | 2,652 | French 2,162 | Spanish 377 | Other Indic 38 | Vietnamese 32 | French Creole 20 | German 14 | 29,268 | |
| Orleans Parish | 32,169 | Spanish 15,305 | Vietnamese 6,304 | French 3,963 | Chinese 1,107 | German 595 | African languages 495 | 353,307 | |
| St. Bernard Parish | 3,446 | Spanish 2,104 | Vietnamese 471 | Chinese 197 | Arabic 178 | French 150 | Tagalog / Filipino 100 | 39,468 | |
| East Baton Rouge Parish | 33,932 | Spanish 13,743 | Vietnamese 5,067 | French 3,705 | Chinese 2,436 | Other Asian 1,179 | Arabic 1,079 | 415,656 | |
| Plaquemines Parish | 1,790 | Spanish 728 | Vietnamese 392 | Serbo-Croatian 203 | French 183 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 114 | Other Slavic 46 | 21,772 | |
| Vernon Parish | 3,911 | Spanish 2,112 | Korean 288 | German 262 | French 237 | Other Pacific Island 142 | Tagalog / Filipino 139 | 47,661 | |
| Calcasieu Parish | 13,209 | French 5,411 | Spanish 4,143 | Vietnamese 647 | Other Indic 490 | German 297 | Chinese 286 | 182,476 | |
| Ascension Parish | 7,076 | Spanish 4,300 | French 1,201 | Vietnamese 374 | Chinese 199 | German 176 | Portuguese 128 | 106,272 | |
| Bossier Parish | 7,473 | Spanish 4,435 | French 515 | Arabic 440 | Tagalog / Filipino 305 | Vietnamese 273 | Korean 199 | 114,343 | |
| Grant Parish | 1,360 | Spanish 1,092 | French 211 | Chinese 24 | German 16 | Vietnamese 8 | Tagalog / Filipino 5 | 21,031 | |
| St. Charles Parish | 3,170 | Spanish 2,065 | French 301 | Chinese 141 | Other Indic 104 | Tagalog / Filipino 97 | Italian 96 | 49,355 | |
| St. Tammany Parish | 13,771 | Spanish 7,420 | French 1,696 | Vietnamese 810 | Chinese 756 | Portuguese 320 | Japanese 260 | 228,469 | |
| Rapides Parish | 7,131 | Spanish 2,931 | French 1,391 | Arabic 744 | Chinese 448 | Vietnamese 380 | Other Asian 317 | 123,203 | |
| St. John the Baptist Parish | 2,380 | Spanish 1,709 | French 266 | Hindi 141 | Other Pacific Island 94 | Tagalog / Filipino 49 | German 37 | 41,177 | |
| Lincoln Parish | 2,340 | Spanish 912 | Chinese 255 | Other Asian 184 | French Creole 139 | German 136 | Arabic 132 | 44,573 | |
| Washington Parish | 2,116 | Spanish 1,111 | French 369 | Portuguese 281 | German 103 | Vietnamese 50 | Other Native North American 44 | 43,596 | |
| Tangipahoa Parish | 5,570 | Spanish 3,663 | French 554 | Vietnamese 270 | Tagalog / Filipino 221 | German 211 | Italian 158 | 116,590 | |
| Pointe Coupee Parish | 991 | Spanish 458 | French 377 | French Creole 72 | Korean 34 | Vietnamese 28 | Italian 14 | 21,075 | |
| Beauregard Parish | 1,388 | Spanish 681 | German 267 | French 202 | Arabic 43 | Other Slavic 30 | Vietnamese 25 | 33,819 | |
| St. James Parish | 802 | French 456 | Spanish 206 | French Creole 51 | Vietnamese 33 | German 26 | Tagalog / Filipino 12 | 20,296 | |
| Livingston Parish | 4,824 | Spanish 2,997 | French 1,086 | Tagalog / Filipino 135 | German 127 | Korean 123 | Japanese 66 | 124,592 | |
| Caddo Parish | 8,951 | Spanish 3,979 | French 1,406 | Vietnamese 701 | Arabic 363 | Tagalog / Filipino 297 | Chinese 296 | 236,334 | |
| Iberville Parish | 1,193 | French 739 | Spanish 376 | French Creole 34 | Other West Germanic 10 | Other Indo-European 9 | Greek 7 | 31,295 | |
| LaSalle Parish | 489 | Spanish 400 | French 43 | Other Native North American 24 | Russian 12 | Thai 4 | Tagalog / Filipino 4 | 13,976 | |
| West Baton Rouge Parish | 796 | Spanish 452 | French 209 | Hindi 37 | Chinese 21 | Greek 17 | Gujarati 17 | 22,947 | |
| Union Parish | 647 | Spanish 535 | French 70 | Tagalog / Filipino 42 | — | — | — | 21,199 | |
| West Feliciana Parish | 424 | Spanish 231 | French 142 | Thai 12 | Other Native North American 11 | Other Slavic 9 | Korean 6 | 14,790 | |
| De Soto Parish | 667 | Spanish 436 | French 146 | Chinese 60 | German 22 | Tagalog / Filipino 3 | — | 25,255 | |
| Ouachita Parish | 3,669 | Spanish 1,909 | French 302 | Vietnamese 221 | Chinese 214 | Other Indic 164 | Japanese 151 | 144,757 | |
| Sabine Parish | 575 | Spanish 318 | French 110 | Vietnamese 39 | German 33 | Hindi 13 | African languages 11 | 22,647 | |
| West Carroll Parish | 272 | Spanish 232 | French 24 | Arabic 7 | French Creole 3 | Greek 3 | Tagalog / Filipino 3 | 10,764 | |
| St. Helena Parish | 246 | French 132 | Spanish 83 | Russian 20 | Italian 9 | Arabic 2 | — | 10,164 | |
| Natchitoches Parish | 835 | Spanish 336 | French 147 | Arabic 110 | German 45 | Korean 40 | Other Asian 30 | 36,803 | |
| Caldwell Parish | 203 | Spanish 173 | French 16 | Other Asian 14 | — | — | — | 9,532 | |
| Tensas Parish | 97 | Spanish 58 | French 31 | French Creole 8 | — | — | — | 4,591 | |
| Catahoula Parish | 189 | Other Indic 98 | Spanish 77 | French 14 | — | — | — | 9,607 | |
| Claiborne Parish | 319 | Spanish 165 | French 96 | Other West Germanic 23 | African languages 12 | Japanese 8 | Other Native North American 7 | 15,788 | |
| East Feliciana Parish | 349 | Spanish 160 | French 89 | African languages 54 | Chinese 18 | Italian 13 | German 11 | 18,800 | |
| Concordia Parish | 349 | Spanish 235 | French 67 | Urdu 14 | German 10 | Italian 9 | Other Indic 9 | 19,127 | |
| Jackson Parish | 275 | Spanish 171 | French 76 | Greek 12 | Arabic 9 | Vietnamese 4 | Tagalog / Filipino 3 | 15,157 | |
| Bienville Parish | 229 | Spanish 148 | French 32 | Italian 20 | German 13 | French Creole 11 | Polish 5 | 13,179 | |
| Webster Parish | 649 | Spanish 449 | French 95 | Tagalog / Filipino 32 | French Creole 27 | Portuguese 15 | Thai 11 | 38,047 | |
| Morehouse Parish | 408 | Spanish 325 | French 41 | Chinese 24 | Polish 18 | — | — | 25,042 | |
| East Carroll Parish | 99 | Spanish 74 | French 8 | African languages 7 | Portuguese 5 | Korean 5 | — | 7,176 | |
| Madison Parish | 135 | Spanish 113 | French 18 | Greek 4 | — | — | — | 10,999 | |
| Winn Parish | 167 | Spanish 114 | Other Native North American 29 | French 24 | — | — | — | 14,017 | |
| Red River Parish | 92 | Spanish 44 | French 40 | Other Indo-European 8 | — | — | — | 8,211 | |
| Richland Parish | 153 | Spanish 98 | French 35 | Vietnamese 17 | Other Pacific Island 3 | — | — | 19,388 | |
| Franklin Parish | 89 | Spanish 39 | French 24 | German 17 | Thai 9 | — | — | 19,101 |
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 parish 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 parishes and less common language groups.