The Telugu-speaking population in the US has surged fourfold in the last eight years, growing from 320,000 in 2016 to 1.23 million in 2024. This growth makes Telugu the eleventh most spoken foreign language in the US and the country’s third most spoken Indian language, after Hindi and Gujarati.
Primarily spoken in southeastern India, it is the official language of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and has more than 75 million speakers.
According to a report from the Statistical Atlas of the US, based on US Census Bureau data, this increase includes both fourth-generation immigrants and recent students.
California has the largest Telugu-speaking population with nearly 200,000 residents, followed by Texas with 150,000 and New Jersey with 110,000. States like Illinois, Virginia, and Georgia also have significant Telugu communities, with 83,000, 78,000, and 52,000 speakers respectively.
In 2018, the US-based Center for Immigration Studies announced that Telugu was the fastest-growing language in the US, rising by 86% between 2010 and 2017.
According to the Student Indian Mobility Report 2024, students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh make up 12.5% of the Indian student population in the US.
This cultural presence is evident at institutions like Kent State University, where welcome pamphlets for new students include greetings in Telugu, reported TOI.