How many people speak Spanish at home?
About 44.9 million people, or 1 out of every 7 people age 5 and up. Spanish is the most-common non-English language used in the US by far, with more than 12 times the number of speakers than the next most common language, Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese).
Puerto Rico, not included in the national total, was home to an additional 3 million people, about 95% of the island territory’s population.
44.9M
1 in 7
Between 2010 and 2024, the number of people in the US age 5+ who spoke Spanish at home increased by 21.3%, compared with an 11.2% increase in the 5+ population in the same period.
As of 2024, more than half of the 44.9 million Spanish-speaking Americans lived in one of three states: California, Texas, or Florida.
Seven states and Puerto Rico were each home to more than a million people speaking Spanish at home in 2024.
People aged 5 or older who spoke Spanish at home
The concentration of Spanish-speaking people varied across states, from 1.2% in Maine to 28.8% in California. In five states, at least 20% of residents spoke Spanish at home:
- California (28.8%)
- Texas (28.2%)
- New Mexico (24.8%)
- Florida (23.4%)
- Nevada (20.9%)
At least 20% of people spoke Spanish at home in five states and Puerto Rico.
Percentage of people aged 5 or older who spoke Spanish at home (2024)
People who speak Spanish at home are likely to speak English well. In 2024, 58.9% of Spanish speakers said they spoke English “very well.”
The number of Spanish speakers at home in the US grew 21.3% since 2010.
English-speaking ability of people aged 5 or older who spoke Spanish at home
Which metro areas have the most Spanish speakers?
From 2019 to 2023, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area had the biggest population of people who speak Spanish at home with 4.2 million, about 34.5% of people age 5 and older. The New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area ranked second with 3.7 million Spanish speakers, about 19.9% of its population. Third was the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area where 2.5 million residents, or 42.7% of its population, speak Spanish at home.
Top 25 metro areas for Spanish speakers at home, 5 and older (2019–2023)
By population (including Puerto Rico)
| 1. | Los Angeles, CA area | 4,247,369 |
| 2. | New York, NY area | 3,702,042 |
| 3. | Miami, FL area | 2,479,598 |
| 4. | Houston, TX area | 1,991,006 |
| 5. | San Juan, PR area | 1,886,626 |
| 6. | Dallas, TX area | 1,602,394 |
| 7. | Chicago, IL area | 1,587,010 |
| 8. | Riverside, CA area | 1,518,236 |
| 9. | Phoenix, AZ area | 886,159 |
| 10. | Washington, DC area | 841,120 |
Keep exploring
- How does the government help non-English speakers vote? - Under the Voting Rights Act, thirty states are required to provide non-English voting materials in at least one locality.
- What does the Census mean by "Some Other Race"? - The Census Bureau categorizes nearly 50 million Americans as “some other race,” the majority of whom are ethnically Hispanic.
- Population pyramids of every state - Look through Census data from 2010–2017 to see how population and demographics have changed in every state and the nation as a whole.
- How the Census collected race and ethnicity data from 1790 to 2020 - See how the federal government has gathered race and ethnicity information as the reasons for doing so have changed over the centuries.
Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
