North Carolina adopted English as its official language via legislation in 1987.

Official English Law of North Carolina

§ 145‑12. State language.

• (a) Purpose.  English is the common language of the people of the United States of America and the State of North Carolina.  This section is intended to preserve, protect and strengthen the English language, and not to supersede any of the rights guaranteed to the people by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of North Carolina.

• (b) English as the Official Language of North Carolina.  English is the official language of the State of North Carolina.

LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN NORTH CAROLINA

6,909,648	English
603,517	All languages other than English combined
378,942	Spanish or Spanish Creole
33,201	French (incl. Patois, Cajun)
28,520	German
15,698	Chinese
13,594	Vietnamese
11,386	Korean
10,834	Arabic
9,181	African languages
7,493	Miao, Hmong
6,521	Tagalog
6,404	Greek
6,317	Japanese
6,233	Italian
5,725	Gujarathi
4,599	Laotian
4,153	Hindi
4,109	Russian
3,361	Mon-Khmer, Cambodian
3,208	Urdu
3,171	Portuguese or Portuguese Creole
2,965	Polish
2,766	Scandinavian languages
2,432	Persian
2,093	Other Native North American languages
2,019	Thai
1,918	Serbo-Croatian
1,441	French Creole
1,321	Hebrew
1,041	Hungarian
467	Yiddish
221	Navajo
117	Armenian