Languages Spoken in Virginia: Map and County Data

45.0%

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, about 1.2 million people age 5 and older in Virginia speak a language other than English at home, representing 15.4% of the state’s population age 5+. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language, with about 526,000 speakers, followed by African languages and Korean.

Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Virginia

The most spoken non-English languages in Virginia are Spanish, African languages, and Korean. Spanish is spoken at home by about 526,000 people, or roughly 6.8% of the state’s population age 5+.

#1 non-English language

Spanish

About 526,000 speakers

#2 non-English language

African languages

About 58,500 speakers

#3 non-English language

Korean

About 56,100 speakers

Key Language Findings for Virginia

About 1.2 million people in Virginia speak a language other than English at home, representing 15.4% of residents age 5 and older.

The most spoken non-English languages in Virginia are Spanish, African languages, and Korean.

Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in Virginia, with about 526,000 speakers, representing roughly 6.8% of residents age 5 and older.

Fairfax County has the largest Spanish-speaking population in Virginia, with about 139,000 speakers.

Fairfax County has the largest population speaking a language other than English at home, with more than 396,000 residents.

While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language statewide, another language leads in 6 of the 133 Virginia counties and independent cities, including Chinese in Montgomery County.

How Language Use Varies Across Virginia Counties and Independent Cities

Language patterns differ sharply by county or independent city. Spanish is the leading non-English language across most of Virginia, but county-level rankings show large local communities speaking Korean, Vietnamese, African languages, Tagalog / Filipino, Chinese, other Asian languages, German, and other languages.

Fairfax County has the largest number of residents speaking a language other than English at home, while City of Manassas Park has the highest share relative to its age-5+ population, at 45.0%. In Montgomery 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 Virginia

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.

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Most Spoken Languages in Virginia by County or Independent City

Search or sort the full county or independent city 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 or independent city.

County / City	% Other Language	Other-Language Speakers	#1 Language	#2 Language	#3 Language	#4 Language	#5 Language	#6 Language	Population Age 5+
City of Manassas Park	45.0%	6,495	Spanish 4,622	Other Indic 385	Chinese 242	Korean 202	Vietnamese 185	Tagalog / Filipino 170	14,421
City of Manassas	38.3%	14,316	Spanish 10,925	African languages 436	Other Indic 392	Tagalog / Filipino 339	Vietnamese 333	Persian 224	37,412
Fairfax County	37.7%	396,626	Spanish 138,873	Korean 34,895	Vietnamese 26,299	Chinese 22,224	Arabic 21,001	African languages 19,971	1,052,468
City of Fairfax	33.9%	7,414	Spanish 3,033	Korean 639	Chinese 499	Vietnamese 394	Other Asian 368	Other Indic 353	21,881
City of Alexandria	32.2%	44,468	Spanish 18,536	African languages 9,217	Arabic 3,298	French 1,235	Tagalog / Filipino 1,122	Chinese 1,008	138,184
Loudoun County	30.6%	99,014	Spanish 35,414	Other Asian 9,665	Other Indic 5,625	Hindi 5,254	Chinese 4,677	Vietnamese 4,546	323,239
Prince William County	30.5%	122,900	Spanish 71,726	African languages 9,441	Urdu 4,939	Vietnamese 3,757	Arabic 3,488	Korean 3,460	402,705
Arlington County	29.1%	61,349	Spanish 29,482	African languages 4,036	Chinese 3,528	Other Indic 2,917	French 2,193	Arabic 1,788	210,484
City of Falls Church	24.5%	3,065	Spanish 1,060	Tagalog / Filipino 295	Russian 190	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 190	French 155	Vietnamese 146	12,504
City of Harrisonburg	23.8%	11,615	Spanish 7,278	Chinese 659	Russian 624	African languages 544	Arabic 540	Other Indo-European 355	48,890
City of Winchester	18.2%	4,611	Spanish 3,588	Other Slavic 139	French 107	Vietnamese 104	Italian 84	Other Indic 63	25,391
Henrico County	14.8%	44,118	Spanish 13,040	Other Asian 4,921	Vietnamese 2,902	Chinese 2,704	Arabic 2,641	Other Indic 2,355	298,491
City of Williamsburg	14.7%	2,094	Spanish 625	Chinese 290	French 165	German 131	Other Slavic 131	Arabic 118	14,240
City of Charlottesville	14.3%	6,095	Spanish 1,819	Chinese 1,158	Arabic 517	Other Asian 345	French 274	German 272	42,611
Stafford County	13.6%	17,474	Spanish 10,121	German 848	Korean 680	African languages 658	Tagalog / Filipino 604	French 528	128,257
City of Virginia Beach	11.9%	49,871	Spanish 18,254	Tagalog / Filipino 11,926	Chinese 2,381	German 1,814	French 1,620	Vietnamese 1,397	418,517
Albemarle County	11.8%	11,517	Spanish 4,445	Chinese 1,291	French 697	German 568	Other Asian 558	Other Indic 463	97,375
City of Fredericksburg	11.5%	2,930	Spanish 1,835	French 185	Arabic 138	Chinese 130	Urdu 85	German 75	25,436
City of Galax	11.2%	738	Spanish 648	German 25	Hebrew 20	Other Indic 18	Other West Germanic 16	Chinese 8	6,572
Chesterfield County	11.0%	33,945	Spanish 18,679	Vietnamese 1,608	German 1,594	Korean 1,282	Chinese 1,101	French 1,037	308,520
City of Newport News	10.9%	18,318	Spanish 9,680	German 1,125	Korean 880	Tagalog / Filipino 771	French 705	Vietnamese 664	168,083
Montgomery County	10.9%	10,030	Chinese 2,085	Spanish 1,669	Korean 859	Arabic 779	German 526	Persian 523	92,126
Accomack County	10.3%	3,219	Spanish 2,557	French Creole 299	Italian 117	French 83	Other Asian 37	German 26	31,114
City of Norfolk	10.3%	23,608	Spanish 11,524	Tagalog / Filipino 3,327	French 1,504	Chinese 800	German 772	African languages 750	228,614
York County	10.3%	6,476	Spanish 1,968	Korean 627	Chinese 508	German 457	French 330	Other Asian 315	62,837
Spotsylvania County	10.1%	12,057	Spanish 7,351	Arabic 516	German 503	Gujarati 429	Vietnamese 427	Chinese 314	119,687
City of Richmond	9.8%	19,614	Spanish 11,111	French 1,147	African languages 910	Chinese 867	Korean 618	Other Indic 528	200,345
City of Roanoke	9.3%	8,489	Spanish 3,853	African languages 824	French Creole 814	Other Indic 694	Other Asian 360	Arabic 337	91,650
City of Hopewell	8.9%	1,845	Spanish 1,090	Arabic 262	German 113	Chinese 92	Laotian 78	African languages 78	20,650
City of Colonial Heights	8.7%	1,433	Spanish 490	German 139	Korean 128	Arabic 117	Gujarati 80	Chinese 76	16,457
Culpeper County	8.6%	3,897	Spanish 2,881	German 217	French 111	Korean 91	Chinese 88	French Creole 76	45,291
City of Norton	8.5%	315	Tagalog / Filipino 164	Spanish 93	Hindi 31	German 13	Russian 11	French 3	3,685
Frederick County	8.5%	6,520	Spanish 5,013	Tagalog / Filipino 190	Vietnamese 174	Korean 158	French 130	African languages 103	76,482
Richmond County	8.5%	733	Spanish 565	Vietnamese 123	German 16	Arabic 14	African languages 9	Other Asian 6	8,641
Northampton County	8.3%	946	Spanish 770	Tagalog / Filipino 49	German 34	Gujarati 29	Japanese 14	French 9	11,404
Rockingham County	8.3%	6,082	Spanish 4,075	Russian 426	German 208	Other Indo-European 206	Urdu 158	Italian 133	73,422
Shenandoah County	8.2%	3,296	Spanish 2,622	German 100	Chinese 74	French 61	Vietnamese 56	Japanese 55	40,337
Fauquier County	7.8%	4,939	Spanish 3,272	German 287	French 191	Korean 127	African languages 127	Thai 111	63,560
Prince George County	7.8%	2,757	Spanish 1,424	German 184	French Creole 148	Other Indic 105	Tagalog / Filipino 94	Urdu 84	35,309
City of Chesapeake	7.3%	15,696	Spanish 7,160	Tagalog / Filipino 2,064	Chinese 948	German 893	French 629	African languages 536	216,096
Orange County	7.3%	2,383	Spanish 1,176	German 617	French 106	Greek 74	Other West Germanic 64	Gujarati 59	32,619
City of Hampton	7.2%	9,303	Spanish 4,642	Vietnamese 924	Arabic 799	Tagalog / Filipino 544	German 434	African languages 298	128,378
City of Lynchburg	7.2%	5,322	Spanish 1,832	African languages 512	Other Asian 479	Korean 351	Gujarati 308	Chinese 286	73,529
City of Lexington	7.1%	486	Korean 159	Chinese 81	Spanish 75	Other Indic 29	Tagalog / Filipino 22	Hindi 21	6,889
James City County	7.1%	4,751	Spanish 2,121	German 395	Korean 346	Chinese 312	Arabic 192	French 171	67,232
City of Waynesboro	6.9%	1,362	Spanish 945	German 156	French 77	Vietnamese 33	Japanese 26	Arabic 23	19,649
City of Petersburg	6.7%	1,995	Spanish 1,231	French 224	Tagalog / Filipino 168	German 167	Japanese 76	Korean 32	29,794
Roanoke County	6.3%	5,648	Spanish 1,802	Gujarati 539	African languages 381	Other Asian 377	Vietnamese 352	Tagalog / Filipino 292	89,106
Greene County	6.0%	1,057	Spanish 741	Chinese 109	Other Asian 43	Other West Germanic 40	German 38	French 20	17,679
Henry County	5.7%	2,825	Spanish 2,369	German 59	Other Asian 54	Gujarati 53	Vietnamese 47	French 39	49,787
Greensville County	5.5%	623	Spanish 411	French 116	Other Indo-European 27	Arabic 22	Other Pacific Island 20	German 15	11,256
City of Salem	5.4%	1,287	Spanish 565	French 115	Scandinavian 84	Hindi 77	Other Indic 72	Other West Germanic 47	23,866
Clarke County	5.4%	732	Spanish 465	Scandinavian 64	German 56	Other Slavic 33	Polish 27	French 21	13,512
Rappahannock County	5.4%	383	Spanish 255	French 71	Tagalog / Filipino 44	Persian 8	Russian 5	—	7,075
Goochland County	5.3%	1,100	Spanish 429	German 100	Italian 98	Korean 76	French 57	Russian 56	20,869
City of Danville	5.2%	2,065	Spanish 1,119	Gujarati 252	French 103	Hindi 82	German 78	Polish 73	39,726
City of Radford	5.2%	853	Spanish 428	African languages 131	Vietnamese 69	Other Asian 62	French 54	Korean 36	16,563
Caroline County	5.1%	1,395	Spanish 780	German 132	Korean 86	Polish 84	African languages 58	Russian 53	27,428
City of Emporia	5.1%	275	Spanish 182	African languages 36	Chinese 21	Tagalog / Filipino 21	Vietnamese 15	—	5,373
Louisa County	5.1%	1,633	Spanish 891	Russian 330	Chinese 110	German 82	French 63	Italian 26	32,056
Lunenburg County	5.1%	607	Spanish 408	Persian 76	African languages 46	French 33	German 10	Arabic 8	11,956
Giles County	5.0%	808	German 536	Spanish 146	Chinese 46	Tagalog / Filipino 31	Polish 16	Japanese 14	16,028
Nottoway County	5.0%	744	Spanish 367	German 195	Mon-Khmer / Cambodian 61	Other / unspecified 34	African languages 22	Other Asian 19	14,808
Warren County	4.9%	1,764	Spanish 1,017	German 169	Arabic 167	Chinese 85	Vietnamese 70	Russian 58	36,251
City of Martinsville	4.8%	615	Spanish 427	German 85	French 23	Persian 18	Polish 13	African languages 13	12,726
City of Poquoson	4.8%	558	Spanish 259	German 76	Chinese 52	Japanese 36	Other Asian 25	Vietnamese 21	11,654
City of Portsmouth	4.8%	4,264	Spanish 2,201	French 426	Chinese 297	German 203	Italian 197	Tagalog / Filipino 189	88,879
City of Suffolk	4.5%	3,606	Spanish 1,723	Tagalog / Filipino 229	German 215	African languages 210	French 192	Korean 176	80,549
Fluvanna County	4.5%	1,112	Spanish 579	French 112	Russian 108	Tagalog / Filipino 62	German 61	Other West Germanic 27	24,602
Hanover County	4.3%	4,113	Spanish 1,992	Chinese 323	German 263	Tagalog / Filipino 236	Korean 201	French 150	96,507
King George County	4.2%	982	Spanish 393	Hindi 73	French 66	Vietnamese 64	French Creole 55	German 45	23,195
Isle of Wight County	4.0%	1,362	Spanish 734	Chinese 144	Italian 80	Other Slavic 79	German 75	Vietnamese 62	34,029
Patrick County	3.9%	683	Spanish 528	German 57	French 27	Polish 16	Chinese 13	Scandinavian 12	17,587
Buckingham County	3.8%	610	Spanish 348	French 42	Hebrew 38	German 34	Chinese 24	Other West Germanic 22	16,154
Gloucester County	3.8%	1,320	Spanish 473	German 307	French 123	Italian 75	Portuguese 58	Tagalog / Filipino 55	35,039
King and Queen County	3.8%	259	Spanish 224	Thai 23	Arabic 12	—	—	—	6,777
Amherst County	3.7%	1,141	Spanish 649	French 104	African languages 66	Other Asian 56	German 53	Gujarati 51	30,492
City of Staunton	3.7%	846	Spanish 440	Urdu 75	Persian 66	German 49	Chinese 43	French 38	22,895
Grayson County	3.7%	548	Spanish 474	Tagalog / Filipino 19	French 14	Hebrew 13	German 10	Other West Germanic 10	14,883
Westmoreland County	3.7%	612	Spanish 500	Chinese 30	Other Slavic 19	Other West Germanic 12	French Creole 9	Other Asian 9	16,585
City of Bristol	3.6%	600	Spanish 363	Chinese 137	Polish 33	French 20	German 17	Hebrew 11	16,619
City of Buena Vista	3.6%	229	Spanish 111	German 70	French 24	Other Pacific Island 9	Other West Germanic 7	Portuguese 5	6,279
Lancaster County	3.6%	381	Spanish 208	Vietnamese 64	French 32	Portuguese 21	Tagalog / Filipino 18	German 16	10,700
Mecklenburg County	3.6%	1,084	Spanish 644	Persian 115	German 67	Vietnamese 56	Tagalog / Filipino 41	Arabic 41	30,130
Franklin County	3.5%	1,851	Spanish 1,188	Chinese 127	Urdu 113	French 95	German 88	Italian 51	53,608
Pittsylvania County	3.5%	2,106	Spanish 1,453	German 190	Tagalog / Filipino 145	French 67	Chinese 43	Serbo-Croatian 36	59,880
Prince Edward County	3.4%	744	Spanish 464	Other Indic 48	Tagalog / Filipino 34	French 32	Japanese 28	Vietnamese 20	22,094
Rockbridge County	3.4%	723	Spanish 313	German 79	Vietnamese 59	Greek 40	French 39	Other Indo-European 33	21,388
Brunswick County	3.3%	538	Spanish 313	French 78	Chinese 52	Other Native North American 30	German 20	Hebrew 9	16,207
Powhatan County	3.3%	882	Spanish 364	German 145	Other Asian 86	Italian 54	Arabic 52	Russian 43	27,066
Lee County	3.2%	762	Spanish 334	Other West Germanic 140	German 68	Hebrew 44	French Creole 42	Arabic 28	23,957
New Kent County	3.1%	571	Spanish 279	French 90	Arabic 61	Scandinavian 41	German 28	Korean 21	18,533
Sussex County	3.1%	348	Spanish 226	Arabic 36	German 18	Other West Germanic 17	African languages 14	Russian 8	11,324
Campbell County	2.9%	1,502	Spanish 621	Chinese 179	Korean 93	French 91	Other Asian 76	African languages 66	52,166
Dinwiddie County	2.9%	784	Spanish 539	German 124	Korean 33	Chinese 30	Italian 26	French 9	26,589
Bedford County	2.8%	2,002	Spanish 826	Chinese 185	Vietnamese 175	Korean 158	French 150	Other Asian 109	72,746
Carroll County	2.8%	810	Spanish 610	Other West Germanic 69	German 42	French 30	Italian 29	Other Native North American 14	28,486
Amelia County	2.7%	324	Spanish 248	Hebrew 28	French 15	Tagalog / Filipino 13	Portuguese 12	Other Slavic 8	12,095
Augusta County	2.7%	1,940	Spanish 1,151	German 167	French 95	Other West Germanic 55	Korean 53	Gujarati 48	70,567
Botetourt County	2.6%	823	Spanish 413	Arabic 88	Other West Germanic 59	German 58	Other Indo-European 54	Italian 45	31,665
Halifax County	2.6%	862	Spanish 559	German 77	Tagalog / Filipino 41	Other West Germanic 39	Other Asian 35	Korean 34	33,711
City of Covington	2.5%	135	Spanish 91	Tagalog / Filipino 31	Italian 8	Arabic 5	—	—	5,435
Nelson County	2.5%	361	Spanish 163	German 67	Thai 32	Tagalog / Filipino 24	Other West Germanic 20	French 19	14,190
Page County	2.5%	565	Spanish 250	German 76	Persian 56	Italian 33	Hindi 29	Japanese 23	22,623
Wise County	2.5%	943	Spanish 437	French 168	German 109	Urdu 39	Arabic 36	African languages 28	38,218
Floyd County	2.4%	355	Spanish 231	German 69	French 21	Other Indo-European 18	Portuguese 9	Polish 7	14,725
King William County	2.4%	365	Spanish 128	Urdu 69	Vietnamese 43	Italian 32	French 27	African languages 22	15,124
Middlesex County	2.4%	252	Spanish 192	Arabic 23	French 12	German 8	Korean 8	Yiddish 6	10,335
Surry County	2.4%	157	Spanish 63	Tagalog / Filipino 35	Korean 27	French 24	African languages 6	German 2	6,484
Alleghany County	2.3%	352	Spanish 210	German 51	Vietnamese 17	Korean 16	French 14	Other Indo-European 12	15,266
City of Franklin	2.3%	178	Spanish 58	Tagalog / Filipino 44	Portuguese 29	Russian 29	Japanese 15	Persian 3	7,863
Mathews County	2.3%	201	Spanish 118	Other Indic 43	African languages 22	German 15	Other Pacific Island 3	—	8,643
Northumberland County	2.3%	277	Spanish 114	French 74	Hungarian 57	German 16	Hindi 7	Other Asian 6	11,828
Washington County	2.3%	1,195	Spanish 516	Arabic 150	French 113	Urdu 92	Other West Germanic 73	German 72	52,234
Pulaski County	2.2%	715	Spanish 493	German 72	Russian 54	Chinese 27	Other Asian 18	French 16	32,827
Wythe County	2.1%	588	Spanish 234	Gujarati 86	Other West Germanic 41	Vietnamese 40	Chinese 37	German 30	27,791
Charles City County	2.0%	138	Spanish 88	Korean 12	Tagalog / Filipino 10	German 9	French 7	Other West Germanic 4	6,867
Russell County	1.9%	507	Spanish 310	Other Asian 73	Portuguese 42	Other Slavic 25	Hindi 17	German 16	26,763
Craig County	1.8%	89	Spanish 48	French 22	Scandinavian 17	Russian 1	African languages 1	—	4,917
Southampton County	1.8%	321	Spanish 126	Russian 72	Italian 38	French 24	African languages 17	Portuguese 14	17,500
Madison County	1.7%	207	Spanish 85	German 39	French 19	Persian 19	Other West Germanic 17	Portuguese 15	12,451
Essex County	1.6%	173	Spanish 73	Arabic 42	French 34	German 18	Japanese 6	—	10,555
Tazewell County	1.6%	664	Spanish 311	Arabic 148	German 39	Korean 34	Urdu 32	Other West Germanic 26	41,643
Bath County	1.5%	66	Spanish 66	—	—	—	—	—	4,362
Dickenson County	1.5%	221	Spanish 127	Portuguese 51	Polish 19	Hindi 10	German 8	Korean 5	14,628
Smyth County	1.5%	452	Spanish 281	German 65	Chinese 34	Other Indic 29	Korean 12	French 11	30,090
Buchanan County	1.4%	320	Spanish 92	African languages 50	Chinese 30	Other Asian 29	Gujarati 27	Korean 21	22,443
Charlotte County	1.2%	143	Spanish 99	Other West Germanic 28	Urdu 11	Russian 4	French 1	—	11,635
Scott County	1.2%	248	Spanish 141	Chinese 30	Persian 19	German 12	Other West Germanic 11	Italian 8	21,520
Cumberland County	1.1%	100	Spanish 59	Italian 25	French 9	German 7	—	—	9,291
Appomattox County	1.0%	146	Spanish 83	French 26	African languages 11	Portuguese 10	German 9	Italian 7	14,333
Bland County	0.9%	57	Other Indo-European 25	Spanish 11	French 8	German 7	Russian 6	—	6,400
Highland County	0.9%	19	Portuguese 7	Spanish 6	Arabic 6	—	—	—	2,188

No counties and independent cities 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 or independent city 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 independent cities and less common language groups.

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Languages Spoken in Virginia: Map and County Data

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Most Spoken Non-English Languages in Virginia

Key Language Findings for Virginia

How Language Use Varies Across Virginia Counties and Independent Cities

English Proficiency and Language Access in Virginia

Plan Language Access Around the Communities You Serve

About the Data

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