Official English Map

blue_for_map With Official English Legislation (BLUE)  red_for_map Without Official English Legislation (RED)

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY DC
The 50 states at a glance

Visit the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) map to view which languages are spoken in your state.

States with Official English (32):

Alabama: Constitutional Amendment (1990) passed by ballot
Alaska: Statutory Voter Initiative (1998)
Arizona: Constitutional Amendment (2006)
Arkansas: Statute (1987)
California: Constitutional Amendment (1986)
Colorado: Constitutional Amendment (1988)
Florida: Constitutional Amendment (1988) Petition Initiative
Georgia: Legislative Statutes (1986, 1996)
Hawaii: Constitutional Amendment (1978) by the Legislature
Idaho: Legislative Statute (2007)
Illinois: Statute (1969)
Indiana: Statute (1984)
Iowa: Legislative Statute (2002)
Kansas: Legislative Statute (2007)
Kentucky:
Statute (1984)
Louisiana: The formerly predominantly French Territory of Louisiana adopted English as its official language as a precondition for its admission into the Union as a state (1807)
Massachusetts: The original constitution was interpreted as having established an official language (1975)
Mississippi: Legislative Statute (1987)
Missouri: Constitutional Amendment (2008) by popular vote
Montana: Legislative Statute (1995)
Nebraska: Constitutional Amendment (1920) by popular vote
New Hampshire: Legislative Statute (1995)
North Carolina: Legislative Statute (1987)
North Dakota: Legislative Statute (1987)
Oklahoma: Constitutional Amendment (2010)
South Carolina: Legislative Statute (1987)
South Dakota: Legislative Statute (1995)
Tennessee: Legislative Statute (1984)
Utah: Statute (2000) passed by Petition Initiative
Virginia: Legislative Statutes (1981, 1996)
West Virginia: Legislative Statute (2016)
Wyoming: Statute (1996)

 States without official English (18):

 

Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Nevada
New Mexico
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Texas
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin

States with private rights of actions (5):

A private right of action is the right of an individual to sue, or otherwise take legal action against a state for failure to enforce or implement a law. The following states’ official English laws include private rights of action:


Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
California
South Dakota

 

 

States requiring English for driver’s licenses (9):

 

Arizona
Kansas
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Wyoming
Hawaii
Maine
Oklahoma
Utah