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Digest of Education Statistics
2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 204.20. English language learner (ELL) students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, fall 2000 through fall 2018
State Number of ELL students Number of ELL students as a percent of total enrollment
2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
United States 3,793,764 1 4,471,300 1 4,455,860 1 4,794,994 4,858,377 4,952,708 5,025,995 1 8.1 1 9.1 1 9.2 1 9.8 9.9 10.1 10.2 1
Alabama 7,226   16,550   17,559   20,228 20,725 25,212 27,702   1.0   2.3   2.4   2.8 2.8 3.5 3.8  
Alaska 19,337   20,743   14,963   15,203 14,662 15,623 14,686   14.5   15.4   11.3   11.8 11.3 12.1 11.5  
Arizona 131,933   174,856   76,320   67,195 70,546 88,629 82,211   15.0   18.2   7.3   6.1 6.3 8.1 7.3  
Arkansas 11,850   20,709   31,537   38,376 41,482 39,836 38,531   2.6   4.6   6.8   8.1 8.7 8.3 8.1  
California 1,479,819   1,571,463   1,474,250 2 1,307,804 1,260,672 1,197,296 1,196,099   24.5   25.2   23.3 2 21.0 20.2 19.2 19.4  

Colorado
60,852   99,797   99,804   104,289 105,810 104,299 99,732   8.4   13.3   13.0   12.0 12.1 11.9 11.4  
Connecticut 20,499   29,789   30,428   35,064 36,573 38,089 40,200   3.6   5.2   5.3   6.7 7.1 7.4 7.9  
Delaware 2,081   5,919   6,858   9,704 10,831 12,296 13,164   1.8   5.1   5.8   7.3 8.1 9.1 9.7  
District of Columbia 8,594   5,001   5,261   6,215 6,574 8,145 8,531   12.5   6.6   6.9   8.7 9.0 10.9 11.3  
Florida 187,566   221,705   229,758   268,189 288,921 280,540 282,023   7.7   8.7   8.7   9.8 10.5 10.1 10.1  

Georgia
54,444   86,615   81,409   112,006 114,427 113,605 119,610   3.8   5.8   5.2   6.5 6.7 6.6 7.0  
Hawaii 12,718   18,106   19,092   13,619 12,658 14,773 16,579   6.9   9.8   10.4   7.5 7.0 8.2 9.2  
Idaho 18,097   18,184   15,393   13,492 16,187 17,849 19,230   7.4   7.3   6.0   4.7 5.5 6.0 6.3  
Illinois 126,475   172,049 3 174,340   194,040 197,496 217,790 228,640   6.2   8.3 3 8.3   9.9 10.2 11.3 12.1  
Indiana 30,953   56,510   49,573   50,717 47,676 55,607 61,523   3.1   5.6   4.9   4.9 4.6 5.4 5.9  

Iowa
11,253   15,156   21,733   27,300 28,659 29,473 31,320   2.3   3.1   4.5   5.7 6.0 6.1 6.5  
Kansas 14,878   24,671   39,323   52,789 54,667 49,238 44,144   3.2   5.2   8.4   11.1 11.5 10.3 9.3  
Kentucky 4,030   10,138   16,351   22,067 21,897 25,653 27,067   0.6   1.5   2.4   3.3 3.3 3.9 4.2  
Louisiana 10,293   12,006   11,698   23,924 22,843 25,060 25,568   1.4   1.6   1.6   3.5 3.3 3.6 3.7  
Maine 2,410 3 3,353   4,792   5,091 5,295 5,775 5,989   1.1 3 1.6   2.4   2.9 3.0 3.3 3.4  

Maryland
24,213   31,416   45,500   63,349 69,079 79,656 84,120   2.8   3.6   5.3   7.5 8.1 9.2 9.7  
Massachusetts 49,077   51,618   54,988   82,779 86,658 93,217 95,086   5.0   5.3   5.6   8.9 9.3 10.0 10.3  
Michigan 49,279 3 65,419   56,474   89,597 94,921 97,837 96,719   2.9 3 3.7   3.2   6.0 6.4 6.6 6.6  
Minnesota 44,360   57,831   48,428   71,162 72,128 73,203 73,303   5.2   6.8   5.8   8.4 8.4 8.5 8.5  
Mississippi 2,176   2,859   5,620   9,588 13,042 12,865 14,771   0.4   0.6   1.1   2.0 2.7 2.7 3.2  

Missouri
10,238   18,745   21,918   29,690 30,950 33,925 34,353   1.1   2.0   2.4   3.4 3.5 3.8 3.9  
Montana 7,713 3 6,711   3,300   3,202 3,000 3,191 3,457   5.0 3 4.5   2.2   2.2 2.1 2.2 2.4  
Nebraska 11,276   17,449   20,077   20,900 22,507 23,332 22,067   3.9   6.1   7.0   7.0 7.4 7.6 7.2  
Nevada 38,301 3 63,856   83,352   78,416 75,430 81,635 73,016   11.2 3 17.3   20.8   17.0 16.1 17.1 15.2  
New Hampshire 2,728   2,876 3 3,965   4,116 4,321 4,988 4,992   1.3   1.4 3 1.9   2.3 2.4 2.8 2.9  

New Jersey
55,463 3 50,515   52,771   68,725 70,941 79,574 83,560   4.2 3 3.7   3.8   5.1 5.3 5.9 6.3  
New Mexico 68,679   62,682   52,557   52,821 44,899 52,892 51,111   21.4   19.6   16.1   16.1 13.7 16.3 15.8  
New York 230,625   194,123   208,125   216,378 236,792 243,737 238,885   8.0   6.7   7.3   8.1 8.9 9.2 9.1  
North Carolina 44,165   73,634   103,249   102,090 92,388 105,801 114,363   3.4   5.5   7.5   6.7 6.0 6.9 7.5  
North Dakota 925 3 2,213 3 2,788   3,171 3,198 3,669 4,018   0.8 3 2.1 3 2.8   3.0 3.0 3.4 3.7  

Ohio
25,658 3 29,804   37,116   51,441 56,945 53,392 56,724   1.4 3 1.6   2.0   3.1 3.4 3.2 3.4  
Oklahoma 38,042   47,381   41,812   46,831 46,396 52,200 54,645   6.1   7.6   6.6   7.2 7.1 8.0 8.3  
Oregon 43,416   64,676   58,946   52,786 56,598 51,036 50,050   7.9   11.7   10.7   9.2 9.8 8.8 8.6  
Pennsylvania 42,412 3 42,795 3 47,014   52,624 56,454 61,724 68,443   2.3 3 2.4 3 2.6   3.1 3.3 3.6 4.0  
Rhode Island 10,245   7,468   7,655   10,550 11,057 12,620 12,523   6.5   4.7   4.9   7.6 7.9 9.0 8.9  

South Carolina
5,121   14,388   36,379   42,574 44,301 45,574 45,411   0.8   2.1   5.2   5.8 5.9 6.1 6.0  
South Dakota 4,270   5,110   4,383   4,598 4,678 5,452 5,975   3.3   4.0   3.5   3.5 3.5 4.1 4.4  
Tennessee 26,452 3 28,251 3 29,681   40,637 43,277 44,790 45,266   3.0 3 3.1 3 3.2   4.2 4.4 4.6 4.6  
Texas 570,453   711,737   738,663   892,082 922,012 926,325 966,594   14.1   16.7   16.8   17.6 18.0 18.0 18.7  
Utah 38,998   49,973   42,804   42,815 41,339 46,220 50,463   8.2   10.3   8.7   6.8 6.4 7.1 7.6  

Vermont
942   1,775   1,510   1,448 1,506 1,770 1,753 3 0.9   1.8   1.5   1.8 1.9 2.2 2.2 3
Virginia 36,802   72,420   88,033   109,104 100,814 114,739 107,173   3.2   6.2   7.3   8.7 8.0 9.1 8.5  
Washington 70,431 3 75,103   90,282   112,763 122,408 127,777 128,795   7.0 3 7.4   8.9   10.5 11.3 11.7 11.8  
West Virginia 920   1,944   1,788   2,812 2,546 2,035 2,012   0.3   0.7   0.6   1.1 1.0 0.8 0.8  
Wisconsin 22,542   30,130   43,638   45,669 46,342 49,905 51,094   2.6   3.4   5.0   5.6 5.7 6.2 6.4  
Wyoming 2,534   3,077   2,602   2,964 2,849 2,839 2,704   2.8   3.6   3.1   3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9  
1 U.S. total includes imputation for nonreporting states.
2 Data are from U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, EDFacts file 046, Data Group 123, extracted October 25, 2017, from the EDFacts Data Warehouse (internal U.S. Department of Education source).
3 Imputation for survey nonresponse. State-level imputations were based on the percentages reported by the state for other years applied to the enrollment for the given year.
NOTE: Data for 2009 and earlier years may include prekindergarten ELL students. Starting with 2010, states were instructed to exclude prekindergarten ELL students from EDFacts reporting. Data for 2014 and earlier years include only those ELL students who participated in ELL programs. Starting with 2015, data include all ELL students, regardless of program participation. Counts and percentages in this table are aggregated from data collected at the school district level and may differ from those in tables based on data collected at other levels.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency Universe Survey," 2000-01 through 2018-19. (This table was prepared November 2020.)

2020 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest