Where New Yorkers speak Chinese, today

Census by census, the share of New Yorkers who spoke Chinese at home in every part of the city, with the neighborhoods that had the most speakers.

1990

Whole city: 3%

1. Lower East Side: 27,360 (32%)
2. Flushing: 18,470 (11%)
3. Chinatown: 12,220 (68%)
4. Elmhurst: 9,370 (12%)
5. Borough Park: 8,650 (8%)

2010

Whole city: 6%

1. Flushing: 64,440 (34%)
2. Borough Park: 28,960 (22%)
3. Bensonhurst: 25,700 (31%)
4. Lower East Side: 25,680 (32%)
5. Sunset Park: 22,890 (24%)

Today

Whole city: 6%

1. Flushing: 77,160 (41%)
2. Bensonhurst: 26,060 (31%)
3. Borough Park: 24,420 (19%)
4. Gravesend: 22,130 (24%)
5. Sunset Park: 21,230 (23%)

1970: mother tongue. From 1990: language spoken at home by people 5 and over. Source: US census, IPUMS NHGIS.

The languages of New York · Where New York Came From: a map of NYC immigration and ancestry, 1910 to today