#94 most spoken · language profile
Norwegian in the United States
An estimated 23,358 people aged 5 and older speak Norwegian at home across U.S. metropolitan areas. About 11.2% of them, roughly 2,606 people, speak English less than "very well."
23,358
Speakers age 5 and older
11.2%
Limited English
13
Metro areas with reliable counts
Where Norwegian is spoken: top metro areas
Ranked by number of speakers at home. 87 additional metro areas have Norwegian speakers but did not meet Census reliability standards and are not listed.
| # | Metro area | Speakers (± margin) | Limited English | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 2,583 ±761 | not reliable | — |
| 2 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 1,322 ±332 | not reliable | — |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 1,228 ±281 | not reliable | — |
| 4 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 942 ±282 | not reliable | — |
| 5 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 919 ±379 | not reliable | — |
| 6 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 615 ±235 | not reliable | — |
| 7 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 406 ±198 | not reliable | — |
| 8 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 395 ±140 | not reliable | — |
| 9 | Grand Forks, ND-MN | 384 ±119 | not reliable | — |
| 10 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 375 ±177 | not reliable | — |
| 11 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 301 ±145 | not reliable | — |
| 12 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 297 ±141 | not reliable | — |
| 13 | Provo-Orem, UT | 255 ±111 | not reliable | — |
Limited English means speaking English less than "very well." Margins of error are at the 90 percent confidence level. "Range" is the 90 percent confidence interval for the limited-English share.
Help Norwegian speakers be understood
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Frequently asked questions
- How many people speak Norwegian in the United States?
- An estimated 23,358 people aged 5 and older speak Norwegian at home across U.S. metropolitan areas, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey.
- What share of Norwegian speakers have limited English proficiency?
- About 11.2 percent, roughly 2,606 people, report speaking English less than "very well." That is the population professional interpreters serve.
- Which U.S. metro area has the most Norwegian speakers?
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, with about 2,583 Norwegian speakers at home.