In which U.S. state is Polish the third most commonly spoken language (after English and Spanish)?

Roughly 10 million Americans claim Polish ancestry, and that heritage is most pronounced in Illinois. After English and Spanish, the state’s third most commonly spoken language is Polish. About 500,000 Americans still primarily speak Polish; roughly 185,000 of those speakers reside in the city of Chicago alone.

As with many other European ethnic groups, Polish immigration to the United States began in the 19th Century. The first Polish-Americans were known as “za chlebem” immigrants, meaning that they were mostly impoverished and came “for bread.”

After the devastation of World War II, the Russian presence and introduction of communism into Poland caused a new wave of Poles immigrating to the United States; often this group had been motivated to leave Poland for political reasons.

After Mexico, Poland is the country which supplies the largest number of immigrants to Illinois and the Chicago Area. At the time of the 2000 Census, 932,996 persons of Polish descent lived in Illinois. According to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, as of 2008, 185,000 Illinois residents spoke mainly Polish.

Nearly one third of all Polish immigrants in the U.S live in the Chicago area. Most of the remaining Polish speakers reside in the New York Metropolitan Area. The state of Wisconsin is also home to a large Polish population.