Chinese language and varieties in the United States

Chinese language and its various dialects are spoken throughout the United States, many of the Chinese live in Chinatowns, like this one in downtown Manhattan.

Chinese speakers in the US
Year	Speakers
1960	89,609
1970	190,260
1980	630,806
1990	1,319,462
2000	2,022,143
2010	2,808,692
^a Foreign-born population only

Varieties of Chinese, mostly Yue varieties including Taishanese and Cantonese, are collectively the third most-spoken language in the United States, almost completely spoken within Chinese American populations and by immigrants or the descendants of immigrants, especially in California and New York. Over 2 million Americans speak varieties of Chinese, with Standard Chinese becoming increasingly common due to immigration from mainland China and to some extent Taiwan. Despite being called dialects or varieties, Cantonese, Taishanese, and Mandarin etc. are not mutually intellegibile.

According to data reported on the 2000 US Census long-form, 259,750 people spoke "Cantonese", with 58.62% percent residing in California and the next most with 16.19% in New York. The actual number of Cantonese speakers was probably higher. In the 1982-83 school year, 29,908 students in California were reported to be using Cantonese as their primary home language. Approximately 16,000 of these students were identified as limited English proficient (LEP).

According to data reported on the 2000 US Census long-form, 84,590 people spoke "Formosan" (Taiwanese Hokkien). The county with the most Formosan speakers was Los Angeles County with 21,990 (0.250% of County population) followed by Orange County with Orange County, California with 5,855 (0.222% of County population). The county with the highest percentage of Formosan speakers was Calhoun County, Texas at 0.845% (160) followed by Fort Bend County, Texas at 0.286% (935) and Los Angeles County, California. According to data collected from 2005-2009 by the American Community Survey, 76,822 people spoke Formosan.

In New York City, although Standard Mandarin Chinese is spoken as a native language among only ten percent of Chinese speakers, it is used as a secondary dialect and is replacing Cantonese as their lingua franca. In addition, immigration from Fujian, particularily Fuzhou is bringing an increasingly large number of Eastern Min speakers. Wu varieties like Shanghainese and Suzhounese are now spoken by a minority of recent Chinese immigrants hailing from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

Although Chinese Americans grow up learning English, some teach their children Chinese for a variety of reasons including preservation of an ancient civilization, preservation of a unique identity, pride in their cultural ancestry, desire for easy communication with them and other relatives, and the perception that Chinese will be a very useful language as China's economic strength increases. Cantonese, historically the language of most Chinese immigrants, was the third most widely spoken non-English language in the United States in 2004.

Chinese (all varieties) speakers by states in 2000

State	Chinese speakers
California	815,386
New York	374,627
Texas	91,500
New Jersey	84,345
Massachusetts	71,412
Illinois	65,251

About 40% of all Chinese-speakers in the United States live in California.

Chinese language(s)" spoken at home according 2005-2009 American Community Survey

Name	Number of speakers	Margin of error	Speaks English "very well"	Margin of error
Total	2,896,766	13,255	1,600,886	8,527
"Chinese"	1,867,485	13,875	1,054,885	8,578
Hakka	1,350	307	840	263
"Kan, Hsiang"	50	65	(D)	(D)
Cantonese	458,840	6,487	257,625	4,433
Mandarin	487,250	7,953	240,810	5,571
Fuchow	1,450	455	1,175	418
Formosan (i.e. Taiwanese)	77,675	2,687	44,140	1,939
Wu	2,670	466	1,375	287

See also

• Chinese American