New Census Data Shows Nearly a Quarter of Americans Speak a Language Other Than English at Home

A new analysis from The Mendoza Law Firm of 2024 American Community Survey data has found that 23% of the U.S. population aged 5 and older, or 74.1 million people, speak a language other than English at home, up sharply from roughly 60 million between 2009 and 2013, even as America’s linguistic landscape varies enormously depending on where a person lives.

Nationally, 77% of the country’s more than 321 million residents speak only English at home, and Census Bureau data counts over 430 languages spoken or signed across the country, including 177 indigenous languages, making the United States one of the world’s most linguistically diverse nations. Among non-English speakers, 39.1% speak English less than very well, meeting the federal definition of limited English proficiency, or LEP, which translates to about 28.9 million people potentially eligible for language assistance in courts, hospitals, schools, and government agencies. Among adults 18 and older specifically, 17.4% speak a non-English language at home, and 30.4% of that group is classified as LEP, representing more than 12.9 million voting-age citizens.

That national picture shifts dramatically once the data is broken down by state. California leads the country with 45.3% of residents aged 5 and older speaking a non-English language at home, equal to 16.9 million of its 37.3 million residents, with Spanish speakers alone accounting for 28.8% of the state’s population, or 10.8 million people. Texas ranks second at 35.7%, representing just over 10.5 million of 29.3 million residents and driven largely by a Spanish-speaking population that makes up 28.2% of the state. New Jersey (34.3%), Florida (32.0%), and New York (31.6%) round out the top five.

Together, the ten states with the highest shares of non-English speakers account for 49.1 million people, or 66.3% of the national total, with seven states posting non-English speaker rates above 30% and ten states above 25%, meaning at least one in four residents in those states speak a language other than English at home. Limited English proficiency follows a similar geographic pattern, with California home to roughly 6.7 million LEP residents, or 17.9% of its population, followed by Texas at 3.9 million (13.2%), Florida at 3 million (13.5%), New York at 2.7 million (14.4%), and New Jersey at 1.2 million (13.9%).

At the opposite end of the spectrum, West Virginia recorded the nation’s highest English-only rate at 97.2% of residents aged 5 and older, and correspondingly the lowest non-English speaker rate in the country at just 2.8%, or fewer than 47,600 people. Montana (4.5%), Mississippi (4.6%), Vermont (5.8%), and Maine (6.3%) posted the next lowest non-English speaker rates, while Montana, Mississippi, Vermont, Maine, Wyoming, Alabama, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Missouri all recorded English-only rates above 92%. Researchers note that states with the highest English-only rates tend to be rural and have historically experienced less immigration, while states with the lowest rates are typically coastal, urban, and shaped by sustained immigration from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean.

The 45.3 percentage point gap between California and West Virginia carries real consequences for schools, hospitals, courts, law firms, and civic agencies, which must accommodate vastly different linguistic environments depending on their state. Researchers say this state-level data can help policymakers, legal professionals, and service providers identify exactly where the demand for interpreters, translation services, and broader language access is greatest.

“These numbers confirm what we see every day in our practice, that language access isn’t an abstract policy question; it’s the difference between a family understanding their legal options or missing out on them entirely,” said a spokesperson for The Mendoza Law Firm. “Knowing exactly where non-English speaking communities are concentrated helps us better serve the immigrants and families who come to us for help.”