Languages Spoken in North Dakota: Map and County Data
Languages Spoken Across North Dakota Counties
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 37,600 people age 5 and older in North Dakota speak a language other than English at home, representing 5.6% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 10,500 speakers, followed by German and African languages.
Most Spoken Non-English Languages in North Dakota
The most spoken non-English languages in North Dakota are Spanish, German, and African languages. Spanish is spoken at home by about 10,500 people, or roughly 1.6% of the state’s population age 5+.
Key Language Findings for North Dakota
About 37,600 people in North Dakota speak a language other than English at home, representing 5.6% of residents age 5 and older.
The most spoken non-English languages in North Dakota are Spanish, German, and African languages.
Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in North Dakota, with about 10,500 speakers, representing roughly 1.6% of residents age 5 and older.
Cass County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in North Dakota, with about 2,000 speakers.
Cass County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 12,200 residents.
While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 31 of the 53 North Dakota counties, including African languages in Cass County.
How Language Use Varies Across North Dakota Counties
Language patterns differ sharply by county. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, but it leads in only 22 of the 53 North Dakota counties, and county-level rankings show large local communities speaking German, African languages, Serbo-Croatian, other Native North American languages, Scandinavian languages, Tagalog / Filipino, other Slavic languages, and other languages.
Cass County has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while McIntosh County has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 20.1%. In Cass County, African languages are the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.
English Proficiency and Language Access in North Dakota
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+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McIntosh County | 529 | German 474 | Spanish 28 | Other Native North American 7 | Tagalog / Filipino 5 | Japanese 4 | Thai 4 | 2,628 | |
| Logan County | 261 | German 235 | Spanish 16 | Other West Germanic 9 | Other Indic 1 | — | — | 1,856 | |
| Walsh County | 1,039 | Spanish 658 | Other Slavic 145 | Scandinavian 63 | Tagalog / Filipino 42 | German 33 | Polish 30 | 10,346 | |
| Billings County | 84 | Other Pacific Island 29 | Other Slavic 22 | German 12 | French 11 | Arabic 7 | Polish 2 | 889 | |
| Emmons County | 292 | German 260 | Tagalog / Filipino 12 | French 6 | Spanish 5 | Other West Germanic 5 | Polish 4 | 3,320 | |
| Sioux County | 319 | Other Native North American 271 | Arabic 11 | Navajo 9 | Other Pacific Island 8 | Spanish 6 | German 6 | 3,908 | |
| Cass County | 12,235 | African languages 2,154 | Spanish 1,981 | Serbo-Croatian 1,173 | German 912 | Other Indic 846 | Chinese 725 | 151,298 | |
| Kidder County | 159 | Spanish 77 | German 74 | French 5 | Scandinavian 3 | — | — | 2,285 | |
| LaMoure County | 260 | German 156 | Spanish 44 | Scandinavian 25 | Russian 8 | Portuguese 6 | Other Slavic 6 | 3,896 | |
| Stark County | 1,775 | Spanish 727 | German 461 | Vietnamese 106 | Other Slavic 92 | Thai 79 | Hindi 50 | 26,505 | |
| Dunn County | 260 | Spanish 62 | German 54 | Other Pacific Island 49 | Other Native North American 34 | Polish 21 | Other Slavic 12 | 3,916 | |
| Grant County | 146 | German 117 | Spanish 15 | Portuguese 7 | Other Indo-European 3 | French 2 | Other Native North American 1 | 2,240 | |
| Grand Forks County | 4,047 | Spanish 1,208 | African languages 670 | German 356 | Other Indic 322 | Chinese 307 | French 150 | 64,383 | |
| Mercer County | 506 | German 352 | Spanish 100 | Other Native North American 16 | Other / unspecified 11 | Korean 4 | Laotian 4 | 8,104 | |
| Dickey County | 293 | German 137 | Spanish 82 | Russian 11 | Thai 11 | African languages 11 | Other Native North American 8 | 4,881 | |
| Mountrail County | 492 | Spanish 207 | Other Native North American 162 | German 34 | Russian 16 | Portuguese 13 | Korean 13 | 8,547 | |
| Oliver County | 92 | German 52 | Spanish 40 | — | — | — | — | 1,708 | |
| Ward County | 3,327 | Spanish 1,248 | German 357 | Tagalog / Filipino 190 | French 187 | Russian 180 | African languages 164 | 62,626 | |
| Burke County | 104 | Spanish 90 | French 5 | German 5 | Tagalog / Filipino 2 | Korean 1 | Other Pacific Island 1 | 2,053 | |
| McKenzie County | 449 | Other Native North American 172 | Spanish 85 | German 70 | Scandinavian 66 | Tagalog / Filipino 15 | Russian 12 | 8,802 | |
| Foster County | 146 | Spanish 63 | German 53 | Tagalog / Filipino 16 | Other West Germanic 14 | — | — | 3,191 | |
| Burleigh County | 3,682 | German 1,521 | Spanish 717 | Chinese 260 | French 252 | Scandinavian 155 | Other Native North American 154 | 82,417 | |
| Morton County | 1,190 | German 597 | Spanish 503 | Scandinavian 26 | Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 16 | Other Pacific Island 15 | Russian 12 | 26,965 | |
| Stutsman County | 877 | Spanish 316 | German 245 | Tagalog / Filipino 63 | French 52 | Other West Germanic 50 | Other Native North American 31 | 19,913 | |
| Adams County | 97 | Spanish 44 | Tagalog / Filipino 25 | German 17 | French 9 | Hungarian 2 | — | 2,231 | |
| Steele County | 80 | Scandinavian 41 | German 25 | Spanish 11 | Polish 3 | — | — | 1,882 | |
| Williams County | 1,158 | Spanish 866 | Russian 73 | German 51 | Other Native North American 51 | Other / unspecified 49 | Scandinavian 38 | 27,175 | |
| Pembina County | 287 | Spanish 152 | German 48 | Scandinavian 38 | French 11 | Polish 10 | Arabic 8 | 6,801 | |
| Renville County | 92 | German 46 | Scandinavian 20 | Spanish 18 | Tagalog / Filipino 3 | French 2 | Chinese 1 | 2,369 | |
| Divide County | 84 | German 34 | Scandinavian 27 | Tagalog / Filipino 15 | Other West Germanic 8 | — | — | 2,188 | |
| Bowman County | 112 | Spanish 85 | German 18 | Other Native North American 7 | Other Slavic 2 | — | — | 3,010 | |
| McLean County | 331 | Spanish 139 | German 114 | Other Native North American 33 | Other Slavic 16 | Chinese 8 | Scandinavian 7 | 8,950 | |
| Hettinger County | 89 | German 54 | Scandinavian 23 | Other Pacific Island 8 | Spanish 4 | — | — | 2,465 | |
| Sheridan County | 46 | German 35 | Spanish 7 | Chinese 4 | — | — | — | 1,283 | |
| Richland County | 537 | Spanish 246 | Other Slavic 85 | German 66 | Other Native North American 40 | Russian 22 | Other Indic 22 | 15,461 | |
| Sargent County | 122 | Spanish 52 | German 28 | African languages 11 | Scandinavian 7 | Tagalog / Filipino 7 | Other Native North American 5 | 3,691 | |
| McHenry County | 165 | German 68 | Spanish 58 | Scandinavian 18 | Japanese 6 | Other Pacific Island 6 | Other / unspecified 5 | 5,449 | |
| Pierce County | 125 | German 83 | Spanish 20 | Other Indo-European 10 | Greek 5 | Other West Germanic 3 | Scandinavian 3 | 4,128 | |
| Ransom County | 153 | German 86 | Scandinavian 46 | Spanish 15 | Other Indic 6 | — | — | 5,168 | |
| Traill County | 227 | Spanish 142 | Scandinavian 48 | German 25 | Other Pacific Island 9 | Polish 2 | French 1 | 7,592 | |
| Eddy County | 65 | Spanish 39 | Other West Germanic 12 | German 7 | Chinese 2 | Other Native North American 2 | Arabic 2 | 2,228 | |
| Cavalier County | 97 | German 36 | Spanish 29 | Scandinavian 17 | Portuguese 8 | Other Slavic 4 | Other Indo-European 2 | 3,672 | |
| Ramsey County | 284 | German 66 | Spanish 64 | Scandinavian 48 | Russian 20 | Other Slavic 16 | Other West Germanic 15 | 10,825 | |
| Barnes County | 248 | Spanish 114 | Scandinavian 64 | German 36 | French 15 | Italian 7 | Other West Germanic 6 | 10,541 | |
| Bottineau County | 147 | Spanish 55 | German 32 | Scandinavian 25 | Korean 8 | Tagalog / Filipino 6 | Navajo 4 | 6,245 | |
| Wells County | 97 | German 62 | Scandinavian 13 | Spanish 9 | Other West Germanic 6 | French 3 | Italian 3 | 4,003 | |
| Griggs County | 47 | Other Indo-European 13 | Scandinavian 9 | Other Indic 9 | German 6 | Spanish 5 | Tagalog / Filipino 5 | 2,205 | |
| Benson County | 113 | Other Native North American 79 | Scandinavian 16 | German 11 | Hungarian 3 | Spanish 2 | French 2 | 6,158 | |
| Slope County | 11 | German 9 | Spanish 2 | — | — | — | — | 618 | |
| Nelson County | 45 | Scandinavian 14 | Other Slavic 13 | Spanish 8 | German 8 | Other / unspecified 2 | — | 2,913 | |
| Rolette County | 169 | Other Native North American 84 | German 21 | Navajo 15 | Spanish 10 | French 7 | Other / unspecified 7 | 12,994 | |
| Golden Valley County | 14 | Spanish 12 | German 2 | — | — | — | — | 1,716 | |
| Towner County | 10 | German 5 | Spanish 3 | Japanese 2 | — | — | — | 2,138 |
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.