Demand reports
Interpreter demand in Minnesota, language by language.
For each language, we map where demand concentrates across Minnesota's hospitals, courts, schools, and agencies — and how deep the statewide interpreter labor pool runs. Numbers below count distinct interpreters listing each language on Minnesota Department of Health spoken-language health care interpreter roster. They describe supply across the state, not any single provider's vetted bench.
-
Somali
990 on rosterMinnesota's largest East African community — Twin Cities, St. Cloud, Rochester, Willmar
Somali is the single most-requested interpreter language in Minnesota health care, with sustained demand across hospitals, clinics, and county services.
-
Spanish
499 on rosterStatewide — Twin Cities, southern Minnesota agricultural and food-processing corridors
Spanish is in constant demand across every Minnesota institution type, from metro hospitals to rural court districts.
-
Oromo
204 on rosterTwin Cities and central Minnesota East African communities
Oromo is a high-demand East African language in Minnesota, often mistakenly conflated with Amharic or Somali during scheduling.
-
Karen
176 on rosterSaint Paul and greater Minnesota — one of the largest Karen communities in the U.S.
Karen is a top refugee-community language in demand across Saint Paul health care, schools, and resettlement services.
-
Arabic
176 on rosterTwin Cities, Rochester, and statewide
Arabic is in steady demand across Minnesota health care, courts, and schools, with dialect range from Levantine to Sudanese.
-
Amharic
166 on rosterTwin Cities Ethiopian community
Amharic is a core East African language in demand across Twin Cities health care and county services.
-
Hmong
116 on rosterSaint Paul and Minneapolis — among the largest Hmong communities in the U.S.
Hmong is a foundational Minnesota community language with steady demand in health care, schools, and elder care.
-
Swahili
108 on rosterTwin Cities East and Central African communities
Swahili is a high-demand regional lingua franca across Minnesota refugee resettlement and health care.
-
Russian
80 on rosterTwin Cities and statewide Eastern European communities
Russian remains in steady demand across Minnesota health care, elder care, and the courts.
-
French
54 on rosterTwin Cities West and Central African francophone communities
French is in demand for West and Central African communities across Minnesota health care and immigration services.
-
Vietnamese
48 on rosterTwin Cities Vietnamese community
Vietnamese is in consistent demand across Minnesota health care, elder care, and the courts.
-
Chinese
39 on rosterTwin Cities and university communities
Chinese demand spans Mandarin and Cantonese across Minnesota health care, courts, and schools.
-
Burmese
38 on rosterTwin Cities and greater Minnesota refugee communities
Burmese is a key refugee-community language in demand across Minnesota resettlement and health care.
-
Karenni
31 on rosterSaint Paul and greater Minnesota refugee communities
Karenni is a distinct, in-demand refugee language too often conflated with Karen in scheduling.
-
Khmer
23 on rosterTwin Cities Cambodian community
Khmer is in demand for Minnesota's Cambodian community across health care and elder care.
-
Lao
22 on rosterTwin Cities and greater Minnesota Lao community
Lao is in steady demand for Minnesota's Lao community across health care and the courts.
-
Thai
18 on rosterTwin Cities Thai community
Thai is a lower-volume but consistent demand language across Minnesota health care and the courts.
-
Nepali
13 on rosterTwin Cities and greater Minnesota Bhutanese-Nepali community
Nepali is a growing refugee-community demand language across Minnesota resettlement and health care.
-
ASL
Statewide — deaf and hard-of-hearing Minnesotans
ASL is in demand for legally mandated access across Minnesota health care, courts, schools, and public meetings.
Source: Minnesota Department of Health spoken-language health care interpreter roster. Distinct interpreters per language, de-duplicated across dialect listings. Roster registration is a measure of the statewide labor pool and is not an endorsement, a certification, or a guarantee of availability from Lingfaro.