About this application: This application provides summary profiles showing frequently requested data items from various US Census Bureau programs. Profiles are available for the nation, states, and counties.
Language other than English spoken at home, percent of persons age 5 years+, 2014-2018 - (Percent)
County
Value
Alameda
45.2
Alpine
7.9
Amador
10.5
Butte
15.0
Calaveras
7.4
Colusa
51.7
Contra Costa
35.1
Del Norte
12.7
El Dorado
12.4
Fresno
44.8
Glenn
38.5
Humboldt
11.8
Imperial
76.0
Inyo
15.4
Kern
44.1
Kings
39.9
Lake
15.7
Lassen
17.9
Los Angeles
56.6
Madera
45.1
Marin
22.7
Mariposa
10.9
Mendocino
22.0
Merced
52.5
Modoc
12.5
Mono
24.8
Monterey
55.1
Napa
34.9
Nevada
8.3
Orange
45.4
Placer
14.9
Plumas
8.5
Riverside
40.6
Sacramento
32.4
San Benito
40.2
San Bernardino
41.6
San Diego
37.7
San Francisco
43.1
San Joaquin
41.0
San Luis Obispo
17.9
San Mateo
46.3
Santa Barbara
39.7
Santa Clara
52.6
Santa Cruz
32.0
Shasta
8.6
Sierra
7.7
Siskiyou
8.4
Solano
29.8
Sonoma
25.5
Stanislaus
42.5
Sutter
37.5
Tehama
20.0
Trinity
10.1
Tulare
51.0
Tuolumne
7.6
Ventura
38.4
Yolo
37.9
Yuba
25.0
Value for California (Percent): 44.1%
Data item: Language other than English spoken at home, percent of persons age 5 years+, 2014-2018
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS), 5-Year Estimates. The PRCS is part of the Census Bureau's ACS, customized for Puerto Rico. Both Surveys are updated every year.
Definition
Persons were asked to report whether they sometimes or always spoke a language other than English at home. People who knew languages other than English but did not use them at home, who only used them elsewhere, or whose usage was limited to a few expressions or slang were excluded.
Tabulations of language spoken at home include only the responses of persons 5 years old and over. The percentage shown is obtained by dividing the number of persons speaking a language other than English at home by the total number of persons 5 years and over. For the complete definition, go to ACS subject definitions "Language Spoken at Home."
Source and Accuracy
This Fact is based on data collected in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. A sample of over 3.5 million housing unit addresses is interviewed each year over a 12 month period. This Fact (estimate) is based on five years of ACS and PRCS sample data and describes the average value of person, household and housing unit characteristics over this period of collection.
Statistics from all surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. Sampling error is the uncertainty between an estimate based on a sample and the corresponding value that would be obtained if the estimate were based on the entire population (as from a census). Measures of sampling error are provided in the form of margins of error for all estimates included with ACS and PRCS published products. The Census Bureau recommends that data users incorporate this information into their analyses, as sampling error in survey estimates could impact the conclusions drawn from the results. The data for each geographic area are presented together with margins of error at Using margins of error. A more detailed explanation of margins of error and a demonstration of how to use them is provided below.
For more information on sampling and estimation methodology, confidentiality, and sampling and nonsampling errors, please see the Multiyear Accuracy (US) and the Multiyear Accuracy (Puerto Rico) documents at "Documentation - Accuracy of the data."
Margin of Error
As mentioned above, ACS estimates are based on a sample and are subject to sampling error. The margin of error measures the degree of uncertainty caused by sampling error. The margin of error is used with an ACS estimate to construct a confidence interval about the estimate. The interval is formed by adding the margin of error to the estimate (the upper bound) and subtracting the margin of error from the estimate (the lower bound). It is expected with 90 percent confidence that the interval will contain the full population value of the estimate. The following example is for demonstrating purposes only. Suppose the ACS reported that the percentage of people in a state who were 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree was 21.3 percent and that the margin of error associated with this estimate was 0.7 percent. By adding and subtracting the margin of error from the estimate, we calculate the 90-percent confidence interval for this estimate:
Therefore, we can be 90 percent confident that the percent of the population 25 years and older having a bachelor's degree in a state falls somewhere between 20.6 percent and 22.0 percent.
