Hispanic America

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One-in-Five Speak Spanish in Four States

New Census Bureau Data Show How America Lives

At least one-in-five residents of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas spoke Spanish at home in 2007, according to new American Community Survey data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Nationwide, an estimated 35 million, or about 12.3 percent, hablan español at home.

Other findings available for the nation, states and geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more include the following:

More Foreign-Born:

-- The estimates for the foreign-born population reached an all-time high of 38.1 million in 2007, representing 12.6 percent of the U.S. population.

-- About 12 million people, or 31 percent of all foreign-born, were born in Mexico.

-- California (27.4 percent), New York (21.8), New Jersey (19.9), Nevada (19.4) and Florida (18.9) had the highest percentage of foreign-born.

-- Of the 20 largest metropolitan statistical areas, Miami and Los Angeles had the highest percentage of foreign-born (37.0 percent and 34.9 percent, respectively). St. Louis had the lowest (4.0 percent).

Living in the Area Where They Were Born:

-- About eight in 10 of the U.S.-born population in Louisiana and New York were born in those states (82.2 and 82.1 percent, respectively). At the other end of the spectrum, only 28.5 percent of the U.S.-born population living in Nevada were born there.

-- A higher percentage of people in the Midwest were born in their current state of residence (70.3 percent) than in any other region. The Northeast is the second highest region with 63.5 percent. The South is third with 56.3 percent, followed by the West with 48.5 percent.

-- Among the 20 largest metro areas, Detroit had the highest percentage of people who were born there and currently live there. Speaking a Language Other Than English at Home:

-- About 19.7 percent of the population age 5 and over spoke a language other than English at home in 2007. That figure was 17.9 percent in 2000 and 13.8 percent in 1990. English is the only language spoken in 80.3 percent of households.

-- About one-in-five California residents over age 5 spoke English less than "very well." Less than 1 percent of people in West Virginia and Montana are also in this category.

-- More than half of the residents over age 5 in the Los Angeles metro area (53.6 percent) spoke a language other than English at home. Miami is second among the 20 largest metro areas, with about half (49.1 percent) of its population age 5 and over in this category.

(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 9/23/08)

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