Limited English Proficient Population of the United States
By Monica Whatley and Jeanne BatalovaMigration Policy Institute
July 2013
In 2011, there were 25.3 million Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals, both foreign-born and US-born, residing in the United States. Over the past 20 years, the LEP share of the total US population has grown from close to 6 percent in 1990 to about 9 percent in 2011. The total number of LEP individuals has grown by 81 percent since 1990, and has established a relatively large presence in California, Texas, and New York.
As a group, the LEP population in the United States is less educated and more likely to live below the federal poverty line than the overall US population. LEP individuals are slightly more concentrated in the working ages and are comprised of a relatively small share of children. Employed LEP men in 2011 were more likely to work in construction, extraction, and transportation occupations than English-proficient men, while employed LEP women were more likely to work in service and personal care occupations than English-proficient women.
Many immigrants in the United States come from non-English-speaking countries and thus