Immigrant populations and English proficiency, Santa Clara Co. (SCCo)

SJECCD Community KInder Caminata Latina Leadership Network Foundation

How well do Santa Clara County residents say they speak English?
About half (50-60%) of the general county population report that they speak English “less than very well.”  This is equally true for both U.S.-born and foreign-born, and consistent across the three largest separately identified language groups in the county.

About half of the total Latino households report that they are bilingual and also speak English “very well.”  By contrast, one quarter say that they do not have anyone age 14+ in the home who speaks English “very well”.

When at home, who speaks English only?
By their own reporting, half of Santa Clara County (SCCo) households speak English exclusively in their homes.  One quarter of this English-only group (28.5%) identify themselves as Hispanic/Latino households.

What about the younger Latino population?
One third of the total Latino population in Santa Clara County is less than 18 years old.  Of these 140,909 young people, 89% are U.S.-born.

The proportion of Spanish-speaking residents who report that they speak English “very well” (shown red in the pie charts) goes up dramatically for the younger population.  (Note: This statistic may show some overestimation effects, since parents are the ones doing the self-reporting.)  The proportion who speak English “less than very well” is highest for working-age adults.

          English proficiency of Spanish-speakers in SCCo (self-reported)