Jun 11, 2025 - News
Tagalog tops California languages after English and Spanish
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Tagalog is the most commonly spoken language in California other than English and Spanish, per new census data.
Why it matters: The myriad languages spoken nationwide reflect both the history of settlement and colonization and modern immigration patterns.
By the numbers: California is home to 16.2 million residents who speak a language other than English at home, and 10.5 million of them speak Spanish.
- There are 646,000 primarily Tagalog speakers, narrowly edging out 641,000 Chinese speakers. Vietnamese and Korean are the next most commonly spoken languages.
Fun fact: The Bay Area is home to a large Filipino community. San Francisco's Manilatown along Kearny Street was a bustling enclave from the 1920s to the 1970s.
- Today, Daly City boasts one of the largest populations in the U.S., with about one in three residents identifying as Filipino.