Languages Spoken in Massachusetts: Map and County Data
Languages Spoken Across Massachusetts Counties
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 1.4 million people age 5 and older in Massachusetts speak a language other than English at home, representing 22.5% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 534,000 speakers, followed by Portuguese and Chinese.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Massachusetts
The most spoken non-English languages in Massachusetts are Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese. Spanish is spoken at home by about 534,000 people, or roughly 8.4% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for Massachusetts
About 1.4 million people in Massachusetts speak a language other than English at home, representing 22.5% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in Massachusetts are Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese.
Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in Massachusetts, with about 534,000 speakers, representing roughly 8.4% of residents age 5 and older.
Suffolk County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in Massachusetts, with about 134,000 speakers.
Middlesex County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 374,000 residents.
While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 5 of the 14 Massachusetts counties, including Chinese in Norfolk County.
How Language Use Varies Across Massachusetts Counties
Language patterns differ sharply by county. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of Massachusetts, but county-level rankings show large local communities speaking Portuguese, Chinese, French Creole, French, African languages, Russian, Italian, and other languages.
Middlesex County has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while Suffolk County has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 38.9%. In Norfolk County, Chinese is the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.
English Proficiency and Language Access in Massachusetts
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 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+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk County | 278,580 | Spanish 134,188 | Chinese 25,756 | French Creole 25,614 | Portuguese 13,445 | Vietnamese 12,240 | French 8,296 | 716,136 | |
| Middlesex County | 374,446 | Spanish 83,926 | Portuguese 48,936 | Chinese 46,452 | French Creole 16,983 | French 16,593 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 13,661 | 1,468,316 | |
| Hampden County | 110,842 | Spanish 75,212 | Portuguese 4,987 | Russian 4,939 | Polish 3,793 | French 3,480 | Vietnamese 1,888 | 440,557 | |
| Essex County | 179,166 | Spanish 111,807 | Portuguese 9,666 | French 6,082 | Italian 5,370 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 4,809 | Greek 4,627 | 720,287 | |
| Bristol County | 108,353 | Portuguese 58,238 | Spanish 25,036 | French 4,490 | French Creole 3,896 | Chinese 2,218 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 1,876 | 523,318 | |
| Norfolk County | 129,312 | Chinese 29,344 | Spanish 18,554 | French Creole 8,605 | Portuguese 8,269 | Russian 7,007 | Vietnamese 6,847 | 650,320 | |
| Worcester County | 142,478 | Spanish 60,029 | Portuguese 10,557 | African languages 8,658 | French 7,838 | Vietnamese 7,312 | Chinese 6,267 | 765,470 | |
| Nantucket County | 1,277 | Spanish 672 | French 122 | Portuguese 118 | French Creole 75 | Chinese 67 | Other Indo-European 35 | 9,960 | |
| Dukes County | 1,945 | Portuguese 933 | French 354 | German 132 | Other Slavic 122 | Polish 97 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 94 | 16,207 | |
| Plymouth County | 56,286 | Portuguese 19,089 | Spanish 11,498 | French Creole 10,487 | French 2,236 | Italian 1,483 | Chinese 1,428 | 476,497 | |
| Hampshire County | 15,857 | Spanish 4,938 | Chinese 2,466 | French 1,512 | Polish 822 | Korean 803 | African languages 476 | 154,882 | |
| Barnstable County | 15,468 | Portuguese 3,817 | Spanish 3,145 | French 1,604 | Chinese 628 | German 587 | Russian 534 | 206,315 | |
| Berkshire County | 9,129 | Spanish 3,908 | French 712 | Italian 559 | Portuguese 542 | German 444 | Russian 417 | 123,598 | |
| Franklin County | 4,296 | Spanish 1,288 | French 505 | Other Indo-European 318 | Chinese 270 | Polish 262 | Portuguese 240 | 67,882 |
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.