Languages Spoken in New Mexico: Map and County Data
Languages Spoken Across New Mexico Counties
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 696,000 people age 5 and older in New Mexico speak a language other than English at home, representing 35.7% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 551,000 speakers, followed by Navajo and other Native North American languages.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in New Mexico
The most spoken non-English languages in New Mexico are Spanish, Navajo, and other Native North American languages. Spanish is spoken at home by about 551,000 people, or roughly 28.3% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for New Mexico
About 696,000 people in New Mexico speak a language other than English at home, representing 35.7% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in New Mexico are Spanish, Navajo, and other Native North American languages.
Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in New Mexico, with about 551,000 speakers, representing roughly 28.3% of residents age 5 and older.
Bernalillo County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in New Mexico, with about 161,000 speakers.
Bernalillo County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 193,000 residents.
While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 2 of the 33 New Mexico counties, including Navajo in McKinley County.
How Language Use Varies Across New Mexico Counties
Language patterns differ sharply by county. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of New Mexico, but county-level rankings show large local communities speaking Navajo, other Native North American languages, German, French, Chinese, Tagalog / Filipino, Korean, and other languages.
Bernalillo County has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while Mora County has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 65.4%. In McKinley County, Navajo is the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.
English Proficiency and Language Access in New Mexico
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+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mora County | 2,847 | Spanish 2,812 | French 18 | German 15 | Other Native North American 2 | — | — | 4,353 | |
| Rio Arriba County | 22,771 | Spanish 19,327 | Other Native North American 2,855 | Navajo 356 | German 81 | Tagalog / Filipino 64 | Chinese 42 | 37,169 | |
| San Miguel County | 15,517 | Spanish 14,735 | French 135 | Chinese 102 | African languages 97 | Japanese 84 | German 76 | 27,166 | |
| McKinley County | 38,217 | Navajo 24,372 | Other Native North American 9,091 | Spanish 4,020 | Tagalog / Filipino 176 | Other Indic 84 | German 82 | 67,654 | |
| Guadalupe County | 2,261 | Spanish 2,202 | Navajo 29 | Other Native North American 20 | German 8 | Italian 1 | Chinese 1 | 4,305 | |
| Luna County | 11,877 | Spanish 11,506 | Chinese 124 | Other / unspecified 81 | Other West Germanic 29 | Other Native North American 29 | Other Indo-European 23 | 22,984 | |
| Doña Ana County | 101,328 | Spanish 97,490 | German 698 | Chinese 595 | Navajo 331 | French 293 | Other Asian 212 | 198,173 | |
| Lea County | 26,733 | Spanish 26,000 | French 154 | German 138 | Navajo 136 | African languages 67 | Hindi 64 | 62,306 | |
| Socorro County | 7,093 | Spanish 5,287 | Navajo 1,446 | French 83 | Chinese 63 | Persian 53 | Russian 46 | 16,675 | |
| Cibola County | 10,782 | Spanish 4,885 | Other Native North American 3,462 | Navajo 2,150 | Japanese 57 | Tagalog / Filipino 53 | French 46 | 25,466 | |
| Taos County | 13,044 | Spanish 11,011 | Other Native North American 894 | French 356 | Chinese 188 | German 138 | Hebrew 109 | 31,280 | |
| Hidalgo County | 1,742 | Spanish 1,722 | French 15 | Hebrew 5 | — | — | — | 4,331 | |
| Chaves County | 22,756 | Spanish 21,683 | Chinese 155 | Vietnamese 142 | Navajo 122 | German 117 | Greek 91 | 61,001 | |
| Santa Fe County | 48,835 | Spanish 43,196 | Other Native North American 1,196 | French 864 | German 529 | Other West Germanic 343 | Navajo 328 | 139,731 | |
| Valencia County | 24,540 | Spanish 22,479 | Other Native North American 1,110 | Navajo 254 | German 171 | Tagalog / Filipino 84 | Russian 62 | 71,390 | |
| San Juan County | 38,101 | Navajo 23,965 | Spanish 12,278 | Other Native North American 567 | French 298 | German 235 | Tagalog / Filipino 193 | 115,775 | |
| De Baca County | 628 | Spanish 628 | — | — | — | — | — | 1,996 | |
| Harding County | 165 | Spanish 165 | — | — | — | — | — | 532 | |
| Bernalillo County | 193,958 | Spanish 160,857 | Navajo 6,112 | Other Native North American 4,008 | Vietnamese 3,283 | Chinese 2,265 | German 2,026 | 630,917 | |
| Sandoval County | 36,373 | Spanish 21,636 | Other Native North American 9,168 | Navajo 2,490 | German 614 | French 354 | Italian 333 | 128,483 | |
| Union County | 1,166 | Spanish 1,063 | Arabic 36 | Navajo 27 | German 16 | Korean 9 | Hebrew 7 | 4,129 | |
| Grant County | 7,677 | Spanish 7,329 | German 125 | Navajo 55 | Other Indo-European 38 | French 30 | Arabic 25 | 27,382 | |
| Eddy County | 14,430 | Spanish 13,665 | Korean 104 | Vietnamese 94 | Polish 79 | German 75 | French 63 | 51,740 | |
| Roosevelt County | 5,102 | Spanish 4,493 | German 129 | Portuguese 86 | Chinese 78 | French 67 | Other Native North American 63 | 18,318 | |
| Otero County | 16,746 | Spanish 13,012 | German 1,635 | Other Native North American 1,020 | Other Indo-European 175 | Korean 152 | Tagalog / Filipino 150 | 60,585 | |
| Curry County | 12,256 | Spanish 11,212 | Tagalog / Filipino 249 | Korean 147 | German 121 | Japanese 70 | Thai 68 | 46,193 | |
| Torrance County | 3,729 | Spanish 3,600 | Russian 31 | Navajo 27 | Other Native North American 23 | German 19 | Italian 15 | 15,059 | |
| Catron County | 864 | Spanish 814 | French 30 | Other Native North American 19 | Navajo 1 | — | — | 3,508 | |
| Quay County | 1,961 | Spanish 1,926 | Tagalog / Filipino 18 | Scandinavian 8 | German 7 | Arabic 2 | — | 8,171 | |
| Lincoln County | 4,184 | Spanish 3,720 | Navajo 212 | French 103 | Hindi 46 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 32 | Persian 24 | 18,974 | |
| Colfax County | 2,622 | Spanish 2,359 | Chinese 111 | German 34 | Italian 26 | Tagalog / Filipino 23 | Navajo 14 | 12,350 | |
| Sierra County | 2,323 | Spanish 2,224 | Tagalog / Filipino 44 | German 22 | French 15 | Other West Germanic 8 | Chinese 5 | 11,062 | |
| Los Alamos County | 3,039 | Spanish 1,381 | Chinese 397 | German 335 | Korean 125 | Vietnamese 110 | Japanese 101 | 16,970 |
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.