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SALT LAKE CITY — Slightly more people in Utah now speak a language other than English, dating back to about 2010, though numbers have remained relatively flat over that period, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
However, at the same time, Spanish speakers — who easily represent the largest share of those who speak a language other than English in Utah — are getting increasingly better at speaking English, according to 2018 American Community Survey estimates. -2022, released late last week.
According to the new numbers, 84.5% of Utahns spoke only English at home during the five-year period through 2022, down slightly from 85.2% in 2013-2017 and 85.6% in 2008-2012. On the flip side, the percentage of people who speak a language other than English at home — Spanish being the most common — was 15.5% of Utah’s population in the most recent numbers, up from 14.8% in 2013-2017 and 14.4% in 2008-2017. 2012 period.
In parallel, the share of the foreign-born segment of Utah’s total population has remained constant over the years – 8.4% in 2018-2022 and 8.3% in 2013-2017 and 2008-2012.
The disparate numbers over this period are so close that no comparative conclusions can be drawn without further study, according to Mallory Pittman, director of demographic research at the Kim C Institute. Gardner School of Policy at the University of Utah. However, Pittman noted that the foreign-born population increased “significantly” by large numbers between the periods 2013-2017 and 2018-2022 – from 248,158 to 276,011, an increase of 27,853.
At the same time, it noted the increase in the proportion of naturalized citizens among the foreign-born population – 38% in the 2012-2017 period to 43% in the 2018-2022 time frame. The balance includes legal permanent residents, illegal immigrants, visitors on visas, and others.
Moreover, dig deeper into the numbers and you’ll see that Spanish speakers are getting better at speaking English. In 2008-2012, 58.9% of Spanish speakers across Utah spoke English “very well” and that number rose to 67.2% by the 2018-2022 time frame.
The American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau is an ongoing initiative to monitor a wide range of areas related to the country and the people of the country. The data helps determine how trillions of dollars in federal funds are distributed each year, according to the Census Bureau, and estimates for the 2018-2022 time frame were released last Thursday.
Here are some other takeaways from the new numbers:
- Salt Lake County had a larger percentage of people than the state as a whole who spoke a language at home other than English in 2018-2022, 21.1% of the population, according to new numbers. This compares to 15.5% in Utah as a whole.
- Weber County had a larger share of Spanish speakers than the state as a whole. Among those who speak another language at home besides English, 80.9% speak Spanish compared to 67.4% in the state as a whole. At the same time, Weber County’s Spanish speakers have gained significantly in their ability to speak English, more so than the state as a whole, anyway. The proportion who spoke English “very well” rose from 52.9% of the total in the 2008-2012 time frame to 71.5% in the 2018-2022 period.
- Across Utah, the most common language spoken at home after English and Spanish was Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, according to a Monday blog post about the numbers from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Chinese speakers represent 3.4% of those who speak a foreign language at home, well below the 67.4% of Spanish speakers.
- Regarding Utah’s foreign-born population, more than 70% of those age 16 or older worked in the 2018-2022 timeframe compared to 66.4% among U.S.-born Utahns, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. More than 70% of foreign-born residents entered the United States before 2010.
Here are the details in five counties along and around the Wasatch Front in the 2018-2022 timeframe who speak only English at home and those who speak another language:
- Salt Lake County, 78.9% and 21.1%, respectively.
- Summit County 84.7% and 15.3%.
- Utah County 84.9% and 15.1%.
- Weber County 85.6% and 14.4%.
- Tooele County 89.5% and 10.5%.
- Davis County 89.9% and 10.1%.
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The linguistic landscape in Utah is becoming increasingly diverse, with a growing number of residents speaking a language besides English at home. In particular, there has been a significant improvement in English proficiency for Spanish speakers in the state. This trend highlights the multiculturalism and language diversity that is becoming more prevalent in Utah, and emphasizes the importance of supporting and celebrating linguistic diversity in the community.