What State Has the Highest Percentage of Spanish Speakers? Its Not Who You Would Think..

According to the United States Census Bureau, the states with the highest percentage of Spanish speakers are as follows. The winner by a landslide is……

New Mexico – 47.7%
Texas – 29.4%
California – 28.8%
Arizona – 22.5%
Nevada – 21.5%
Colorado – 21.1%
Florida – 20.7%
New York – 18.4%
New Jersey – 16.6%
Illinois – 15.8%

A notable surprise at #1, since New Mexico is not typically thought of as having a high concentration of non-acculturated Hispanics. Conversely, Florida was the guess of a high percentage of Hispanic respondents in a recent omnibus survey, yet it is not even on the top 5 of the list.

It’s worth noting that Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the United States, after English. The percentage of Spanish speakers in each state can vary greatly depending on factors such as demographics, immigration patterns, and historical influences.