Languages Spoken in New Jersey: Map and County Data
Languages Spoken Across New Jersey Counties
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 2.6 million people age 5 and older in New Jersey speak a language other than English at home, representing 30.5% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 1.3 million speakers, followed by Chinese and other Asian languages.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in New Jersey
The most spoken non-English languages in New Jersey are Spanish, Chinese, and other Asian languages. Spanish is spoken at home by about 1.3 million people, or roughly 15.8% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for New Jersey
About 2.6 million people in New Jersey speak a language other than English at home, representing 30.5% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in New Jersey are Spanish, Chinese, and other Asian languages.
Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in New Jersey, with about 1.3 million speakers, representing roughly 15.8% of residents age 5 and older.
Hudson County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in New Jersey, with about 237,000 speakers.
Hudson County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 364,000 residents.
Spanish is the leading non-English language in every one of the 21 New Jersey counties, and accounts for about 52% of all residents who speak a language other than English at home.
How Language Use Varies Across New Jersey Counties
Language patterns differ sharply by county. With Spanish first everywhere, county-level rankings are most revealing in second and third place, where large local communities speak Korean, Chinese, other Asian languages, Portuguese, French Creole, Arabic, Hindi, and other languages.
Hudson County has both the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home and the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 59.2%.
English Proficiency and Language Access in New Jersey
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+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson County | 364,679 | Spanish 236,909 | Tagalog / Filipino 16,951 | Arabic 15,447 | Hindi 14,781 | Chinese 11,625 | Gujarati 8,751 | 616,507 | |
| Passaic County | 225,358 | Spanish 160,460 | Arabic 11,461 | Italian 6,810 | Polish 6,492 | Other Indic 5,487 | Gujarati 4,148 | 472,405 | |
| Union County | 219,179 | Spanish 139,170 | Portuguese 18,185 | French Creole 11,818 | Polish 6,983 | Chinese 4,716 | Tagalog / Filipino 4,688 | 512,974 | |
| Middlesex County | 331,134 | Spanish 123,910 | Other Asian 29,866 | Hindi 25,035 | Gujarati 24,425 | Chinese 21,408 | Other Indic 18,908 | 780,121 | |
| Bergen County | 342,917 | Spanish 126,994 | Korean 50,280 | Polish 15,564 | Tagalog / Filipino 14,541 | Chinese 14,253 | Italian 13,084 | 877,116 | |
| Essex County | 251,063 | Spanish 137,145 | Portuguese 21,785 | French Creole 16,607 | African languages 12,085 | French 10,630 | Chinese 7,400 | 738,132 | |
| Somerset County | 95,496 | Spanish 36,088 | Chinese 11,282 | Other Asian 5,950 | Gujarati 5,222 | Hindi 5,174 | Tagalog / Filipino 3,444 | 312,192 | |
| Mercer County | 101,224 | Spanish 47,915 | Chinese 8,664 | Other Asian 5,154 | Hindi 3,855 | Polish 3,510 | Italian 3,320 | 348,672 | |
| Atlantic County | 70,934 | Spanish 39,824 | Other Indic 4,059 | Chinese 3,423 | Vietnamese 3,297 | Gujarati 2,895 | Tagalog / Filipino 2,079 | 258,822 | |
| Cumberland County | 38,140 | Spanish 32,826 | Italian 776 | Russian 501 | Other Asian 421 | Gujarati 355 | Arabic 320 | 146,466 | |
| Morris County | 115,602 | Spanish 49,800 | Chinese 9,912 | Gujarati 6,047 | Other Asian 5,455 | Hindi 4,503 | Italian 4,245 | 472,306 | |
| Camden County | 97,051 | Spanish 57,768 | Chinese 5,095 | Vietnamese 4,254 | Tagalog / Filipino 3,071 | Other Indic 2,444 | Russian 2,416 | 479,628 | |
| Monmouth County | 102,509 | Spanish 42,289 | Chinese 7,755 | Italian 5,930 | Portuguese 5,745 | Russian 5,035 | French Creole 3,519 | 596,297 | |
| Burlington County | 54,626 | Spanish 20,774 | Other Asian 2,548 | Portuguese 2,442 | Gujarati 2,296 | Chinese 2,193 | Tagalog / Filipino 2,041 | 426,474 | |
| Ocean County | 68,073 | Spanish 32,946 | Italian 6,229 | Yiddish 4,291 | Tagalog / Filipino 2,584 | Hebrew 2,335 | Portuguese 2,299 | 543,849 | |
| Warren County | 11,916 | Spanish 5,518 | Italian 990 | Polish 545 | Tagalog / Filipino 377 | Other Indic 359 | Portuguese 352 | 102,060 | |
| Hunterdon County | 12,637 | Spanish 4,652 | Chinese 1,034 | Polish 778 | Italian 671 | German 660 | French 521 | 121,140 | |
| Cape May County | 9,021 | Spanish 4,888 | Italian 583 | Polish 547 | German 355 | French 337 | Other Slavic 337 | 91,308 | |
| Sussex County | 13,816 | Spanish 5,797 | Polish 1,274 | German 876 | Italian 869 | Greek 480 | Portuguese 462 | 138,964 | |
| Gloucester County | 23,530 | Spanish 10,218 | Italian 1,707 | Tagalog / Filipino 1,585 | Chinese 1,177 | German 782 | French 706 | 273,948 | |
| Salem County | 5,173 | Spanish 3,609 | Italian 215 | German 164 | Other Slavic 143 | Korean 139 | Greek 126 | 61,388 |
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.