In this article
About 44.9 million people in the United States speak Spanish at home, 13.9% of everyone age 5 and over, according to the American Community Survey for 2024. That is up 7.4% from 2019. Of these speakers, 18.4 million, or 41.1%, say they speak English less than "very well."
California has the most Spanish speakers, 10,754,818, and the highest share, 28.8% of residents, followed by Texas at 28.2%. The fastest growth since 2019 came mostly in states with smaller Spanish-speaking populations: North Dakota, up 91.8%, then South Dakota (55.3%), Maine (42.7%), West Virginia (40.3%), Indiana (39.0%) and Tennessee (37.1%).
Key figures
44.9 million
people speak Spanish at home, 13.9% of everyone age 5 and over
41.1%
of them speak English less than "very well"
28.8%
of Californians speak Spanish at home, the highest share of any state
91.8%
growth in North Dakota since 2019, the fastest of any state
- Under 3%
- 3 to 6%
- 6 to 10%
- 10 to 15%
- 15 to 20%
- 20% or more
Share of residents age 5 and over who speak Spanish at home. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table C16001; change compared with the 2019 1-year estimates, tested at the 90% confidence level. Each square is one state; size is not population.
Spanish speakers in every state
| State | Spanish speakers | Share of residents | Speak English less than "very well" | Change since 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 10,754,818 | 28.8% | 39.4% | +0.7% (not significant) |
| Texas | 8,272,577 | 28.2% | 38.8% | +5.1% |
| Florida | 5,191,207 | 23.4% | 44.9% | +13.6% |
| New York | 2,826,836 | 15.0% | 46.0% | +3.4% |
| Illinois | 1,702,816 | 14.1% | 39.9% | +5.1% |
| New Jersey | 1,606,399 | 17.9% | 47.9% | +13.5% |
| Arizona | 1,373,997 | 19.1% | 34.1% | -1.4% (not significant) |
| Georgia | 972,043 | 9.2% | 41.6% | +20.4% |
| North Carolina | 956,464 | 9.2% | 41.9% | +22.3% |
| Pennsylvania | 740,568 | 6.0% | 41.8% | +16.6% |
| Virginia | 685,429 | 8.2% | 41.7% | +11.2% |
| Washington | 685,031 | 9.1% | 37.6% | +6.8% |
| Massachusetts | 670,417 | 9.9% | 43.8% | +6.0% |
| Nevada | 645,998 | 20.9% | 40.6% | +3.3% (not significant) |
| Colorado | 635,821 | 11.3% | 35.9% | +2.3% (not significant) |
| Maryland | 597,081 | 10.1% | 46.8% | +21.2% |
| New Mexico | 503,100 | 24.8% | 32.1% | -4.2% (not significant) |
| Connecticut | 453,397 | 13.0% | 42.5% | +8.8% |
| Tennessee | 394,033 | 5.8% | 48.2% | +37.1% |
| Indiana | 381,198 | 5.8% | 42.4% | +39.0% |
| Utah | 379,382 | 11.6% | 39.6% | +20.5% |
| Oregon | 373,828 | 9.2% | 40.0% | +1.9% (not significant) |
| Michigan | 327,243 | 3.4% | 38.2% | +19.6% |
| Ohio | 327,084 | 2.9% | 40.5% | +23.1% |
| Oklahoma | 322,009 | 8.4% | 40.7% | +13.3% |
| Wisconsin | 296,785 | 5.2% | 39.7% | +13.7% |
| South Carolina | 282,355 | 5.4% | 45.2% | +26.0% |
| Minnesota | 246,301 | 4.5% | 41.2% | +17.6% |
| Kansas | 235,017 | 8.4% | 43.3% | +9.7% |
| Louisiana | 222,669 | 5.1% | 51.1% | +31.4% |
| Alabama | 195,336 | 4.0% | 41.1% | +17.7% |
| Arkansas | 191,199 | 6.6% | 47.1% | +21.2% |
| Missouri | 179,788 | 3.0% | 35.3% | +9.2% |
| Nebraska | 174,874 | 9.3% | 49.1% | +27.1% |
| Kentucky | 162,194 | 3.7% | 48.1% | +35.4% |
| Idaho | 156,657 | 8.3% | 34.8% | +16.8% |
| Rhode Island | 150,135 | 14.2% | 50.2% | +16.5% |
| Iowa | 148,032 | 4.8% | 43.9% | +13.5% |
| Mississippi | 80,958 | 2.9% | 39.4% | +24.5% |
| Delaware | 80,141 | 8.0% | 39.3% | +23.1% |
| District of Columbia | 61,754 | 9.3% | 39.7% | +5.1% (not significant) |
| New Hampshire | 36,316 | 2.7% | 33.4% | +1.7% (not significant) |
| Hawaii | 31,445 | 2.3% | 25.1% | +0.5% (not significant) |
| South Dakota | 24,587 | 2.8% | 53.5% | +55.3% |
| West Virginia | 24,194 | 1.4% | 38.9% | +40.3% |
| Wyoming | 23,822 | 4.3% | 37.5% | +1.2% (not significant) |
| North Dakota | 21,351 | 2.8% | 37.3% | +91.8% |
| Alaska | 21,273 | 3.1% | 28.6% | -21.6% |
| Montana | 16,618 | 1.5% | 25.1% | +25.9% (not significant) |
| Maine | 16,511 | 1.2% | 29.9% | +42.7% |
| Vermont | 8,611 | 1.4% | 27.5% | +19.0% (not significant) |
Where Spanish is growing
California, with the most Spanish speakers, showed no significant change since 2019, and neither did Arizona, Nevada or New Mexico. Texas grew 5.1%. Faster growth came in the Southeast, the Midwest and Maine: Florida grew 13.6%, Georgia 20.4% and North Carolina 22.3%. Indiana and Tennessee each added about 107,000 Spanish speakers.
What it means for language access
With 18.4 million people who speak English less than "very well," Spanish is by far the largest language in U.S. interpreting and translation work. Spanish is also not one variety: speakers from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America differ in vocabulary, and a good interpreter adapts. See Spanish dialects in legal and medical interpreting and AMS Spanish interpreters.
About the data
- Counts are people age 5 and over who speak Spanish at home, whatever their English ability. Spanish Creole is not included.
- The comparison year is 2019 because the Census Bureau did not publish standard 1-year estimates for 2020.
- Small-state estimates have wide margins of error, so a large percentage change there is less certain than the national figure.
SourcesU.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, table C16001 and table B16001, 2024 and 2019, retrieved October 24, 2026.