More than half of young adults in Los Angeles can fluently speak a language other than English , despite the fact that the city 's percentage of foreign born residents is decreasing . Fifty-seven per cent of those aged 18 to 34 , in LA spoke a language other than English at home , beating out Miami which had 55 per cent and San Jose with 54 per cent . Roughly a quarter of the 'Millenial ' generation nationwide uses another language , according to the American Community Survey . A map of young adults ' ability to speak a language other than English uses dark red for counties where more than 40 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds communicate in a foreign language at home , and lighter shades of pink for smaller proportions of the population . Roughly 60 per cent of LA city residents age five and older speak a language other than English , with Spanish the most popular language among them . In addition to a large number of Latino immigrants , Los Angeles also has large Middle Eastern , Asian , Middle Eastern and Eastern European communities . However , the proportion of foreign-born adults in Los Angeles has actually decreased 9 percentage points to a little less than a third since 1990 , and a large number of the Millenials with foreign language skills are thought to be bilingual . The rise in bilingualism is probably caused by children continuing to speak their parents ' tongues in addition to English , according to Voice of America . UCLA professor Raul Hinojosa said that the children and grandchildren of immigrants historically stopped learning to speak the same language of their ancestors , but that there has been a 'sea change in the last ten years ' . California has seen a growing percentage of its young adults speaking foreign languages ( bars in blue ) since the 1980s . The US as a whole ( pink bars ) has also seen its rate increase at a slower pace . Hinojosa said that languages beyond Spanish , second and third-generation immigrants will be encouraged to keep knowledge of Mandarin and other languages . The American Community Survey collected data between 2009 and 2013 and found that 23.3 per cent of the population was between 18 and 34 years old , a fall from 30 per cent in 1980 . Data showed that the generation is less likely to be married and more likely to have gone to college than three decades ago , as well as more likely to speak a foreign language . Areas that showed the highest rates for speaking something other than English were near the US-Mexico border in California and Texas . New Jersey was found to be the third most likely state for a young adult to speak a foreign language at home . West Virginia ranked last for the statistic with 3.63 per cent and Middlesborough , Kentucky , was the metro with the lowest percentage of young adults who could speak a foreign language with 0.034 . In contrast to Los Angeles , many US cities and states have seen significant increases in their foreign-born populations . The United States as a whole saw its estimated foreign-born population decline 0.4 percentage points from 2000 to the American Community Survey . US : 25 per cent . Atlanta : 22.5 . Boston : 28.1 . Chicago : 33.1 . Cleveland : 11.6 . Dallas-Ft Worth : 35.8 . Denver : 23.5 . Detroit : 14.2 . Houston : 42.6 . Los Angeles : 57.6 . Miami : 55.5 . Minneapolis : 17.5 . New York-Newark 42.9 . Philadelphia : 18.1 . Phoenix : 30.7 . San Diego 38.5 . San Francisco : 43.1 . San Jose : 54.2 . Seattle : 26.04 . St Louis 8.15 . Washington DC : 30.1 . California 47.82 . Texas 38.62 . New Jersey 36.62 . New Mexico 36.48 . Nevada 34.46 . West Virginia 3.6 . Montana 5.4 . Mississippi 5.7 . North Dakota 5.7 . Maine 5.8 . Cities and states throughout the country have seen their percentage of foreign-born residents increase . Above , a man in Dearborn , Michigan , attends an event urging Arabic speakers to vote in 2004 .
Fifty-seven per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds in LA do n't speak English at home . Proportion of foreign-born residents has actually decreased in the city . Comment: Immigrant children and grandchildren keep knowledge of family 's language .