Translation Services in Wilmington, DE

Wilmington by the numbers

Residents: 71,727
Speak a language other than English at home: 9,977 14.7%
Speak English less than “very well”: 4,170 6.2%
Limited-English households: 1,133 3.6%
Born outside the U.S.: 6,852 9.6%

Detailed languages in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area

The Census Bureau publishes individual languages for metro areas, not for cities. These are the most-spoken languages other than English in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area.

Spanish435,931
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)84,674
Russian40,903
Vietnamese38,274
Arabic32,495
Yoruba, Twi, Igbo, or other languages of Western Africa31,293
Haitian26,054
Korean24,504

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 2024 1-year, table B16001, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area.

Languages spoken in Wilmington

14.7% of Wilmington residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 6.2% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Russian, Polish, and other Slavic.

Language spoken at home	Residents	Speak English less than “very well”
Spanish	6,353	3,403
Other Indo-European languages	659	n/a
Russian, Polish, and other Slavic	225	n/a

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates for Wilmington city (tables C16001, C16002, B05002, B05006) (opens in a new tab). Figures with a wide margin of error are not shown.

Language services in Wilmington

Where Wilmington residents born abroad come from

Countries of birth point to the languages behind the Census groups above, and to the documents (birth certificates, diplomas, court records) that arrive for translation.

Mexico1,104

Language access rules in Delaware

Court interpreter program: Delaware Court Interpreter Program, managed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) under the direction of the Court Interpreter Advisory Board, which recruits, tests, and certifies interpreters and maintains the Court Interpreter Registry used by the courts and state agencies.
Court-certified languages: The program offers oral certification exams in Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, Cantonese, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese, and qualifies interpreters in other languages through oral proficiency interviews; the Registry lists Certified Interpreters, Conditionally-Approved Interpreters, and Registered Candidates.
The rule: Delaware Supreme Court Administrative Directive No. 107 (April 1996) established the Court Interpreter Program, and the AOC Court Interpreter Program Policy Directive governs court-provided interpreters for LEP adults, juveniles, and parents of juveniles in all state courts; 10 Del. C. § 8907 gives deaf parties and witnesses in any legal proceeding the right to a court-appointed qualified sign language interpreter.
Interpreter order of preference: Delaware's judiciary Language Access Plan directs courts to use in-person Certified Interpreters first, Conditionally-Approved Interpreters next, and Registered Candidates only for arraignments, capias returns, minor violations in the lower courts, and non-evidentiary hearings, and to make every effort to use only Certified Interpreters in trials of more serious matters.
Limits on telephone interpreting in court: The judiciary's Language Access Plan states that, under the AOC Court Interpreter Program Policy Directive, telephonic interpreting in court proceedings is permitted only after a good-faith effort to obtain an in-person interpreter fails and the proceeding is non-evidentiary, expected to last no more than 30 minutes, and needs only one interpreter, except for preliminary arraignments, emergency PFA proceedings, and other emergency proceedings.
Deaf parties and witnesses: 10 Del. C. § 8907 requires the court to appoint a qualified sign language interpreter for a deaf party or witness in any legal proceeding, with fees set by the court and paid from government funds in criminal cases and as the court directs in civil cases.
Social services interpreters and translation: Delaware Division of Social Services Manual § 1009, final effective February 10, 2013, requires DSS staff to arrange interpreter and translation services for limited English proficient applicants and clients through bilingual staff or a contracted vendor, and DSS translates forms and documents into languages common in Delaware.
State agency language access reporting: Title 29, Chapter 106 of the Delaware Code (84 Del. Laws c. 454) required selected state programs to report each December 1 on language access and disability communication and defined vital documents, but the Code annotation states the chapter expires September 30, 2026.
Court language demand: In fiscal year 2020, 4,138 Delaware court events required 6,776 foreign-language interpreter hours for an estimated 8,104 LEP individuals; Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Mandarin were the top three languages, and the program provides certified and otherwise qualified interpreters in 50 languages.

Sources

Wilmington questions

What languages are spoken in Wilmington?

14.7% of Wilmington residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 6.2% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Russian, Polish, and other Slavic. The most common countries of birth among residents born abroad are Mexico.

How many Wilmington households have limited English?

1,133 of 31,655 households (3.6%), according to the Census Bureau: households in which no one age 14 or older speaks only English or speaks English “very well.” These are the households most likely to need an interpreter or translated documents.

How are court interpreters credentialed in Delaware?

Delaware Court Interpreter Program, managed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) under the direction of the Court Interpreter Advisory Board, which recruits, tests, and certifies interpreters and maintains the Court Interpreter Registry used by the courts and state agencies. The program offers oral certification exams in Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, Cantonese, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese, and qualifies interpreters in other languages through oral proficiency interviews; the Registry lists Certified Interpreters, Conditionally-Approved Interpreters, and Registered Candidates.

Do you provide on-site interpreters in Wilmington?

Yes. We schedule interpreters in person in Wilmington and across Delaware, and by phone and video nationwide, in 250+ languages including Spanish and ASL. Book less common languages as early as you can.

Do you provide conference and meeting interpreters in Wilmington?

Yes. We staff conferences, conventions, trade shows, seminars, corporate training, and client meetings in Wilmington with simultaneous or consecutive interpreters. For simultaneous interpreting, our own technicians deliver, run, and strike the booths, transmitters, and receivers, shipped from our own inventory.