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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is often thought of as a homogenous state, but the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey has proven that to be false.
A new graphic representation of languages spoken in each state reveals Utah has many Spanish and German speakers.
Ben Blatt from Slate compiled the data and created the image. Spanish was the second most common language spoken (after English) in all but seven of the United States. Take away Spanish, and the results are more diversified — from Korean and Vietnamese to Navajo and Hmong.
Utah’s third most-spoken language is German. Only one German was among the first group of Mormon pioneers who settled in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, but the number of immigrants grew. One of the most famous German immigrants to Utah is Karl G. Maeser. He came to Utah in the 1800s, and founded Brigham Young University in 1875.
Evidence of the German influence in Utah exists in local German delicatessens, Oktoberfest celebrations, and German Christmas markets.
