A look at the languages spoken in Alabama and the drop in the Spanish speaking population

Alabama is near the bottom in the nation when it comes to the likelihood that a person speaks something besides English.

The state now ranks 47th in the nation. That's based on the percentage of residents who speak a language other than English when at home. That's 4.9 percent of Alabamians. Only Montana, Mississippi and West Virginia see a smaller percentage.

And in recent years, according to Census estimates released last month, that number dropped in Alabama.

So who left?

Short answer: Alabama lost a lot of people who speak Spanish.

The prevalence of Spanish peaked in 2011, before Alabama enacted legislation cracking down on all aspects of life for undocumented immigrants.

Here's a deeper look at changes among Alabama residents who speak Spanish:

Interactive charts

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Other languages

Chinese is now the third most common language in Alabama. The numbers are small compared to Spanish. But German had long been third.

Other Asian languages, such as Korean, continue to rise. Gujarati, spoken in parts of India, emerged as the 7th most common language other than English in Alabama in 2014.

Overall, Alabama is losing speakers of foreign languages. That's unusual. Alabama is one of just 10 states to see a drop from 2010 to 2014.

While that's mainly due to the loss of Spanish speakers, some other languages, like French and German, have been steadily falling.

Click below to see Census estimates for what languages people in Alabama speak and how those numbers have changed from 2010 to 2014.

Use the dropdown to select other languages

For more click here: Alabama has seen a decline in its Spanish speaking population 

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