Languages Spoken in Tennessee: Map and County Data

16.2%

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 419,000 people age 5 and older in Tennessee speak a language other than English at home, representing 6.9% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 241,000 speakers, followed by Arabic and African languages.

Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Tennessee

The most spoken non-English languages in Tennessee are Spanish, Arabic, and African languages. Spanish is spoken at home by about 241,000 people, or roughly 4.0% of the state’s population age 5+.

#1 non-English language

Spanish

About 241,000 speakers

#2 non-English language

Arabic

About 20,800 speakers

#3 non-English language

African languages

About 14,600 speakers

Key Language Findings for Tennessee

About 419,000 people in Tennessee speak a language other than English at home, representing 6.9% of residents age 5 and older.

The most spoken non-English languages in Tennessee are Spanish, Arabic, and African languages.

Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in Tennessee, with about 241,000 speakers, representing roughly 4.0% of residents age 5 and older.

Davidson County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in Tennessee, with about 53,200 speakers.

Davidson County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 99,300 residents.

While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 8 of the 95 Tennessee counties, including other West Germanic languages in Lawrence County.

How Language Use Varies Across Tennessee Counties

Language patterns differ sharply by county. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of Tennessee, but county-level rankings show large local communities speaking Arabic, African languages, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, French, and other languages.

Davidson 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 16.2%. In Lawrence County, other West Germanic languages are the leading non-English language, showing how statewide rankings can differ substantially at the local level.

English Proficiency and Language Access in Tennessee

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

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Most Spoken Languages in Tennessee by County

Search 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+
Davidson County	16.2%	99,323	Spanish 53,165	Arabic 10,828	African languages 5,520	Other Indo-European 3,541	Vietnamese 2,962	Other Indic 2,536	612,326
Bedford County	11.5%	4,927	Spanish 4,338	African languages 158	Chinese 123	Laotian 94	German 81	Italian 33	42,841
Rutherford County	10.2%	26,958	Spanish 16,460	Laotian 3,116	Arabic 1,322	African languages 745	French 573	Chinese 566	263,414
Montgomery County	10.1%	17,105	Spanish 9,136	German 1,915	Korean 1,394	African languages 718	French 576	Tagalog / Filipino 384	169,994
Hamblen County	9.8%	5,803	Spanish 5,045	German 104	Chinese 88	Japanese 81	Portuguese 76	Korean 70	59,118
Shelby County	9.4%	81,844	Spanish 46,364	African languages 4,577	Vietnamese 4,150	Arabic 3,587	Chinese 3,374	French 2,846	869,933
Crockett County	9.0%	1,235	Spanish 1,109	African languages 90	Arabic 11	Hebrew 11	French 5	Italian 4	13,745
Loudon County	7.9%	3,762	Spanish 3,162	Gujarati 128	French 118	Tagalog / Filipino 110	Other West Germanic 73	Other Asian 44	47,705
Williamson County	7.8%	14,600	Spanish 6,007	Chinese 1,047	Hindi 888	Other Asian 811	Other Indic 766	Korean 543	187,400
DeKalb County	7.6%	1,378	Spanish 1,112	Serbo-Croatian 114	Tagalog / Filipino 101	Japanese 28	French 19	German 3	18,082
Sevier County	7.1%	6,242	Spanish 3,755	Russian 431	German 268	Other Indo-European 220	Chinese 190	Gujarati 184	88,418
Warren County	6.6%	2,491	Spanish 2,301	German 37	Japanese 30	Other Indic 23	Hindi 22	Gujarati 21	37,549
Bradley County	6.5%	6,271	Spanish 4,123	Gujarati 455	Chinese 317	Other Slavic 294	African languages 133	Vietnamese 121	96,273
Hamilton County	6.5%	21,295	Spanish 11,617	German 1,030	Chinese 919	Other Asian 813	French 773	Tagalog / Filipino 726	327,282
Knox County	6.4%	26,906	Spanish 11,772	Chinese 2,016	Arabic 1,635	Vietnamese 1,401	French 1,160	Other Indic 931	418,303
Lawrence County	6.3%	2,485	Other West Germanic 1,299	Spanish 501	German 470	Hindi 54	Vietnamese 30	Other Pacific Island 24	39,265
Putnam County	6.1%	4,222	Spanish 2,540	Arabic 458	Other Indic 253	Chinese 166	French 131	German 127	69,523
Maury County	5.9%	4,589	Spanish 3,246	French 232	Tagalog / Filipino 205	Other West Germanic 143	Russian 119	Gujarati 101	78,362
Robertson County	5.8%	3,664	Spanish 2,949	Arabic 192	French 95	German 69	Gujarati 64	Italian 57	62,964
Sumner County	5.8%	9,279	Spanish 5,896	Chinese 383	Gujarati 381	African languages 361	French 356	Korean 320	159,247
Wilson County	5.3%	6,068	Spanish 2,912	French 324	Gujarati 321	Russian 275	Arabic 244	African languages 243	115,198
Madison County	5.1%	4,716	Spanish 2,838	Vietnamese 448	French 364	Tagalog / Filipino 228	Arabic 184	Portuguese 142	91,730
Unicoi County	4.9%	845	Spanish 732	Other Indic 51	Other West Germanic 28	French 14	African languages 10	Other Slavic 9	17,306
Marshall County	4.6%	1,354	Spanish 992	Gujarati 102	Other Indo-European 70	Japanese 40	French 38	Other Native North American 36	29,366
Washington County	4.5%	5,290	Spanish 2,899	Chinese 340	German 288	Arabic 249	Korean 238	French 237	118,769
Coffee County	4.4%	2,216	Spanish 1,649	Vietnamese 140	Chinese 124	Japanese 73	Other Asian 47	German 42	50,217
Obion County	4.3%	1,271	Spanish 1,015	German 95	Arabic 72	Vietnamese 29	French 17	Serbo-Croatian 13	29,382
Anderson County	4.2%	2,996	Spanish 1,432	Chinese 246	Korean 158	French 129	Hindi 118	Russian 115	71,453
Chester County	4.1%	676	Spanish 536	Tagalog / Filipino 41	German 29	Korean 24	French 12	African languages 10	16,446
Bledsoe County	4.0%	511	Spanish 278	German 223	Italian 9	Russian 1	—	—	12,902
Monroe County	4.0%	1,727	Spanish 1,345	German 109	Chinese 67	French 64	Japanese 30	Hungarian 27	42,661
Macon County	3.9%	828	Spanish 635	Tagalog / Filipino 120	Korean 44	Portuguese 29	—	—	21,141
Blount County	3.8%	4,542	Spanish 2,707	German 327	French 281	Japanese 234	Other West Germanic 127	Arabic 106	118,632
Rhea County	3.7%	1,150	Spanish 1,057	Italian 23	Other Indo-European 17	Other / unspecified 15	Tagalog / Filipino 13	Hindi 9	30,690
Jefferson County	3.5%	1,746	Spanish 1,235	German 182	French 89	Arabic 72	Other Slavic 43	Japanese 40	49,779
McMinn County	3.5%	1,720	Spanish 1,330	Other West Germanic 115	Thai 77	Hindi 55	French 38	Korean 38	49,578
Dickson County	3.4%	1,617	Spanish 949	German 179	Other West Germanic 127	Japanese 86	Other Indic 80	Other Pacific Island 49	47,360
Giles County	3.4%	929	Spanish 387	German 158	Gujarati 122	Portuguese 65	French 61	Arabic 38	27,306
Lake County	3.4%	251	Spanish 162	Other Native North American 23	Italian 15	French 12	Hebrew 11	Tagalog / Filipino 9	7,339
Cumberland County	3.3%	1,816	Spanish 1,147	German 170	French 127	Chinese 81	Tagalog / Filipino 58	Italian 55	54,661
Fayette County	3.3%	1,216	Spanish 654	French 77	Russian 59	German 58	Other West Germanic 58	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 58	36,619
Franklin County	3.3%	1,286	Spanish 810	Korean 119	German 73	Italian 70	French 59	Arabic 37	39,120
Cannon County	3.2%	422	Spanish 287	French 43	German 33	African languages 20	Hebrew 17	Arabic 10	13,027
Hardeman County	3.2%	809	Spanish 421	German 125	Other West Germanic 106	Tagalog / Filipino 55	Other Asian 33	French 31	24,967
Lewis County	3.2%	357	Gujarati 214	Spanish 95	Other West Germanic 26	German 16	Tagalog / Filipino 6	—	11,282
Perry County	3.2%	236	German 91	Spanish 55	Other West Germanic 55	Tagalog / Filipino 11	Italian 9	Korean 8	7,347
Dyer County	3.1%	1,119	Spanish 829	Chinese 66	Tagalog / Filipino 54	French 51	Other Pacific Island 35	German 24	35,696
Lauderdale County	3.0%	766	Spanish 489	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 113	German 40	Japanese 37	Hebrew 32	Vietnamese 13	25,876
Polk County	2.9%	469	Spanish 255	German 104	French 52	Tagalog / Filipino 23	Polish 11	Other Native North American 9	15,918
Tipton County	2.9%	1,651	Spanish 1,096	Other Pacific Island 129	Chinese 127	Tagalog / Filipino 94	German 58	French 45	57,762
Grainger County	2.8%	597	Spanish 478	French 33	Arabic 19	Russian 15	Portuguese 14	Other Slavic 13	21,554
Greene County	2.8%	1,796	Spanish 1,189	French 117	Chinese 117	German 103	Italian 50	Korean 40	65,272
Henderson County	2.7%	714	Spanish 601	German 53	French 14	Japanese 11	Vietnamese 11	Scandinavian 10	26,347
Sullivan County	2.7%	3,971	Spanish 2,300	German 257	Hindi 187	African languages 146	Italian 129	French 109	148,864
Van Buren County	2.6%	137	Spanish 55	French 38	Other Indic 37	Hebrew 5	Other Asian 2	—	5,334
Benton County	2.5%	383	Spanish 223	Other Indic 65	Japanese 32	French 18	Italian 17	German 14	15,461
Hardin County	2.5%	618	Spanish 466	German 66	Other Pacific Island 28	Korean 27	Other Native North American 8	Polish 6	24,528
Haywood County	2.5%	438	Spanish 434	German 4	—	—	—	—	17,212
Henry County	2.5%	765	Spanish 500	German 121	African languages 44	Chinese 35	Other Slavic 24	Japanese 21	30,728
Fentress County	2.4%	403	Spanish 286	German 45	Korean 20	Other Pacific Island 16	Chinese 13	Italian 9	17,009
Cheatham County	2.3%	844	Spanish 631	German 51	Arabic 33	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 30	French 29	Chinese 25	37,060
Decatur County	2.3%	251	Spanish 186	Other Indic 27	German 10	French 8	Other Asian 8	Other Pacific Island 5	11,075
Gibson County	2.3%	1,058	Spanish 571	German 109	Other West Germanic 91	Chinese 60	Portuguese 47	Tagalog / Filipino 30	46,304
Humphreys County	2.3%	392	Spanish 302	German 25	Scandinavian 13	Other Asian 13	Other Native North American 12	Italian 8	17,276
Carter County	2.2%	1,184	Spanish 829	Tagalog / Filipino 69	French 60	German 52	Italian 25	Vietnamese 24	54,185
Cocke County	2.2%	747	Spanish 430	German 116	Korean 69	Persian 34	French 32	Other Native North American 21	33,550
Hickman County	2.2%	508	German 207	Spanish 189	French 34	Other West Germanic 28	Tagalog / Filipino 20	Other Native North American 10	23,027
Lincoln County	2.2%	712	Spanish 542	Italian 68	German 44	Other Indo-European 27	Other West Germanic 18	Polish 8	31,709
Wayne County	2.2%	360	Spanish 304	German 12	African languages 11	Tagalog / Filipino 10	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 9	Serbo-Croatian 5	16,185
Carroll County	2.1%	564	Spanish 255	Other West Germanic 75	Other Indic 57	French 52	Serbo-Croatian 29	Russian 21	26,753
Clay County	2.1%	152	Spanish 114	Korean 19	German 15	Tagalog / Filipino 4	—	—	7,390
Weakley County	2.1%	699	Spanish 439	Other West Germanic 84	Arabic 76	German 52	Armenian 18	Other Native North American 16	32,523
White County	2.1%	531	Spanish 452	French 30	German 23	French Creole 17	Vietnamese 6	Other West Germanic 3	24,860
Claiborne County	2.0%	619	Spanish 263	Arabic 130	Other Indic 83	German 45	Other / unspecified 15	Other Asian 14	30,261
Morgan County	2.0%	413	Spanish 234	German 42	French 27	Other Slavic 27	African languages 25	Other Native North American 19	20,835
Pickett County	2.0%	98	Spanish 50	German 32	Other Native North American 16	—	—	—	4,888
Johnson County	1.9%	324	Spanish 286	French 12	Italian 10	Persian 6	Laotian 5	Other Native North American 5	17,185
Smith County	1.9%	347	Spanish 172	Arabic 134	Gujarati 9	Korean 8	French 7	Other Slavic 7	18,036
McNairy County	1.8%	452	Spanish 293	German 92	Other West Germanic 14	Russian 14	Portuguese 13	Gujarati 10	24,644
Overton County	1.8%	382	Spanish 233	Korean 39	Thai 39	Other West Germanic 29	Tagalog / Filipino 27	German 15	20,854
Roane County	1.8%	932	Spanish 562	German 115	Other Pacific Island 76	French 42	Chinese 39	Hindi 18	50,630
Stewart County	1.8%	229	Korean 98	Spanish 46	Chinese 20	Serbo-Croatian 15	French 14	German 14	12,491
Hawkins County	1.7%	888	Spanish 569	Chinese 80	Russian 66	Tagalog / Filipino 53	Arabic 35	French 30	53,712
Houston County	1.4%	107	German 42	Spanish 35	Russian 22	Other West Germanic 5	Tagalog / Filipino 3	—	7,860
Marion County	1.3%	350	Spanish 243	Gujarati 47	Laotian 37	French 10	German 7	Portuguese 6	26,810
Sequatchie County	1.3%	181	Spanish 152	Polish 17	Russian 8	German 4	—	—	13,702
Union County	1.3%	225	Spanish 134	German 33	French 26	Korean 12	Portuguese 11	Other Slavic 9	17,943
Jackson County	1.1%	116	Spanish 86	Portuguese 27	Italian 2	Other Indic 1	—	—	10,948
Trousdale County	1.1%	80	Spanish 22	Other Pacific Island 17	Italian 15	French 12	Russian 8	Tagalog / Filipino 6	7,468
Campbell County	0.9%	355	Spanish 165	French 39	German 34	Other Asian 22	Gujarati 21	Hindi 21	38,112
Grundy County	0.9%	117	Spanish 77	Greek 15	Italian 9	Tagalog / Filipino 7	German 6	French 3	12,772
Meigs County	0.9%	105	Spanish 98	Other West Germanic 7	—	—	—	—	11,133
Scott County	0.8%	169	Spanish 117	German 34	Other West Germanic 13	Other Native North American 5	—	—	20,665
Hancock County	0.5%	30	Italian 10	German 9	Other Native North American 6	Spanish 5	—	—	6,295
Moore County	0.4%	26	Italian 10	German 9	Spanish 7	—	—	—	6,087

No counties found.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2011–2015 5-Year Estimates, Table B16001 · Population age 5 and over

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.

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Languages Spoken in Tennessee: Map and County Data

Languages Spoken Across Tennessee Counties

Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Tennessee

Key Language Findings for Tennessee

How Language Use Varies Across Tennessee Counties

English Proficiency and Language Access in Tennessee

Plan Language Access Around the Communities You Serve

About the Data

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