74.1 Million Americans Speak a Language Other Than English at Home, New Analysis Finds

A new analysis of 2024 American Community Survey data from The Mendoza Law Firm confirms that the United States remains one of the world’s most linguistically diverse nations, with 74.1 million residents aged 5 and older, 23% of the population, speaking a language other than English at home. That figure is up sharply from the roughly 60 million non-English speakers recorded between 2009 and 2013, and reflects a country where more than 430 languages, including 177 Indigenous languages, are spoken or signed.

Spanish remains by far the dominant non-English language, spoken at home by just under 45 million people, 13.9% of the population aged 5 and older. The Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. has more than quadrupled since 1970, making the country the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking nation after Mexico, with Spanish speakers alone outnumbering the combined total of French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, and every Native American language speaker nationwide. Beyond Spanish, other Indo-European languages such as French, Portuguese, German, Russian, Polish and Greek accounted for 13 million speakers, 4.1% of the population, while Asian and Pacific Island languages including Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean and Hindi were spoken by 11.9 million people, 3.7% of the population.

The analysis found enormous variation from state to state. California recorded the nation’s highest non-English speaker rate at 45.3%, representing 16.9 million of its 37.3 million residents, with Spanish speakers alone making up 28.8% of the state’s population. Texas ranked second at 35.7%, driven largely by a Spanish-speaking population that accounts for 28.2% of residents, followed by New Jersey (34.3%), Florida (32.0%) and New York (31.6%). Together, the ten states with the most non-English speakers account for 49.1 million people, 66.3% of the national total.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, West Virginia recorded the nation’s highest rate of English-only speakers at 97.2%, and the lowest non-English speaker rate at just 2.8%, fewer than 47,600 residents. Montana (95.5% English only), Mississippi (95.4%), Vermont (94.2%) and Maine (93.7%) rounded out the states with the least linguistic diversity. The gap between California’s 45.3% non-English speaker rate and West Virginia’s 2.8% illustrates just how concentrated multilingual populations are in specific regions shaped by distinct immigration histories.

Of the 74.1 million non-English speakers nationally, 39.1% speak English less than “very well,” meeting the federal definition of limited English proficiency, or LEP. That means roughly 28.9 million people are eligible for language assistance in courts, hospitals, schools and government agencies nationwide, including more than 12.9 million voting-age citizens.

Every one of these numbers represents a real family navigating daily life, sometimes in a language that isn’t their first,” said a spokesperson for The Mendoza Law Firm. “Understanding where these communities are concentrated helps us make sure the immigrants and families we serve actually get the support and legal guidance they need.