Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 204.20. English learner (EL) students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, fall 2000 through fall 2020
State Number of EL students Number of EL students as a percent of total enrollment
2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
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 5,115,887 4,963,388 8.1 1 9.1 1 9.2 1 9.8 9.9 10.1 10.2 1 10.4 10.3
Alabama 7,226   16,550   17,559   20,228 20,725 25,212 27,702   31,903 32,630 1.0   2.3   2.4   2.8 2.8 3.5 3.8   4.4 4.6
Alaska 19,337   20,743   14,963   15,203 14,662 15,623 14,686   15,346 13,894 14.5   15.4   11.3   11.8 11.3 12.1 11.5   12.0 11.0
Arizona 131,933   174,856   76,320   67,195 70,546 88,629 82,211   74,834 81,594 15.0   18.2   7.3   6.1 6.3 8.1 7.3   6.6 7.4
Arkansas 11,850   20,709   31,537   38,376 41,482 39,836 38,531   39,318 39,265 2.6   4.6   6.8   8.1 8.7 8.3 8.1   8.2 8.3
California 1,479,819   1,571,463   1,474,250 2 1,307,804 1,260,672 1,197,296 1,196,099   1,148,024 1,062,264 24.5   25.2   23.3 2 21.0 20.2 19.2 19.4   18.6 17.7

Colorado
60,852   99,797   99,804   104,289 105,810 104,299 99,732   96,490 90,155 8.4   13.3   13.0   12.0 12.1 11.9 11.4   11.0 10.5
Connecticut 20,499   29,789   30,428   35,064 36,573 38,089 40,200   41,973 39,333 3.6   5.2   5.3   6.7 7.1 7.4 7.9   8.3 8.0
Delaware 2,081   5,919   6,858   9,704 10,831 12,296 13,164   15,294 14,581 1.8   5.1   5.8   7.3 8.1 9.1 9.7   11.1 10.7
District of Columbia 8,594   5,001   5,261   6,215 6,574 8,145 8,531   9,440 9,347 12.5   6.6   6.9   8.7 9.0 10.9 11.3   12.3 12.0
Florida 187,566   221,705   229,758   268,189 288,921 280,540 282,023   278,498 264,546 7.7   8.7   8.7   9.8 10.5 10.1 10.1   10.0 9.7

Georgia
54,444   86,615   81,409   112,006 114,427 113,605 119,610   128,502 125,963 3.8   5.8   5.2   6.5 6.7 6.6 7.0   7.5 7.5
Hawaii 12,718   18,106   19,092   13,619 12,658 14,773 16,579   17,737 16,769 6.9   9.8   10.4   7.5 7.0 8.2 9.2   9.9 9.6
Idaho 18,097   18,184   15,393   13,492 16,187 17,849 19,230   21,215 18,426 7.4   7.3   6.0   4.7 5.5 6.0 6.3   6.9 6.1
Illinois 126,475   172,049 3 174,340   194,040 197,496 217,790 228,640   229,180 218,480 6.2   8.3 3 8.3   9.9 10.2 11.3 12.1   12.3 12.0
Indiana 30,953   56,510   49,573   50,717 47,676 55,607 61,523   67,504 67,938 3.1   5.6   4.9   4.9 4.6 5.4 5.9   6.6 6.7

Iowa
11,253   15,156   21,733   27,300 28,659 29,473 31,320   31,509 30,410 2.3   3.1   4.5   5.7 6.0 6.1 6.5   6.5 6.3
Kansas 14,878   24,671   39,323   52,789 54,667 49,238 44,144   42,833 42,694 3.2   5.2   8.4   11.1 11.5 10.3 9.3   9.0 9.2
Kentucky 4,030   10,138   16,351   22,067 21,897 25,653 27,067   28,351 31,842 0.6   1.5   2.4   3.3 3.3 3.9 4.2   4.3 5.0
Louisiana 10,293   12,006   11,698   23,924 22,843 25,060 25,568   29,081 27,339 1.4   1.6   1.6   3.5 3.3 3.6 3.7   4.3 4.1
Maine 2,410 3 3,353   4,792   5,091 5,295 5,775 5,989   5,453 5,210 1.1 3 1.6   2.4   2.9 3.0 3.3 3.4   3.1 3.1

Maryland
24,213   31,416   45,500   63,349 69,079 79,656 84,120   93,249 88,834 2.8   3.6   5.3   7.5 8.1 9.2 9.7   10.6 10.3
Massachusetts 49,077   51,618   54,988   82,779 86,658 93,217 95,086   98,055 92,076 5.0   5.3   5.6   8.9 9.3 10.0 10.3   10.6 10.2
Michigan 49,279 3 65,419   56,474   89,597 94,921 97,837 96,719   93,889 90,374 2.9 3 3.7   3.2   6.0 6.4 6.6 6.6   6.5 6.4
Minnesota 44,360   57,831   48,428   71,162 72,128 73,203 73,303   75,018 72,754 5.2   6.8   5.8   8.4 8.4 8.5 8.5   8.6 8.6
Mississippi 2,176   2,859   5,620   9,588 13,042 12,865 14,771   11,614 13,127 0.4   0.6   1.1   2.0 2.7 2.7 3.2   2.5 3.0

Missouri
10,238   18,745   21,918   29,690 30,950 33,925 34,353   34,219 32,512 1.1   2.0   2.4   3.4 3.5 3.8 3.9   3.9 3.8
Montana 7,713 3 6,711   3,300   3,202 3,000 3,191 3,457   3,555 3,627 5.0 3 4.5   2.2   2.2 2.1 2.2 2.4   2.4 2.5
Nebraska 11,276   17,449   20,077   20,900 22,507 23,332 22,067   23,035 22,223 3.9   6.1   7.0   7.0 7.4 7.6 7.2   7.4 7.2
Nevada 38,301 3 63,856   83,352   78,416 75,430 81,635 73,016   70,217 64,601 11.2 3 17.3   20.8   17.0 16.1 17.1 15.2   14.5 13.7
New Hampshire 2,728   2,876 3 3,965   4,116 4,321 4,988 4,992   4,911 4,759 1.3   1.4 3 1.9   2.3 2.4 2.8 2.9   2.8 2.9

New Jersey
55,463 3 50,515   52,771   68,725 70,941 79,574 83,560   98,748 95,042 4.2 3 3.7   3.8   5.1 5.3 5.9 6.3   7.3 7.2
New Mexico 68,679   62,682   52,557   52,821 44,899 52,892 51,111   52,898 49,497 21.4   19.6   16.1   16.1 13.7 16.3 15.8   16.5 16.0
New York 230,625   194,123   208,125   216,378 236,792 243,737 238,885   233,627 239,954 8.0   6.7   7.3   8.1 8.9 9.2 9.1   8.9 9.4
North Carolina 44,165   73,634   103,249   102,090 92,388 105,801 114,363   122,599 114,901 3.4   5.5   7.5   6.7 6.0 6.9 7.5   8.0 7.7
North Dakota 925 3 2,213 3 2,788   3,171 3,198 3,669 4,018   4,212 4,018 0.8 3 2.1 3 2.8   3.0 3.0 3.4 3.7   3.7 3.6

Ohio
25,658 3 29,804   37,116   51,441 56,945 53,392 56,724   60,049 59,519 1.4 3 1.6   2.0   3.1 3.4 3.2 3.4   3.6 3.7
Oklahoma 38,042   47,381   41,812   46,831 46,396 52,200 54,645   59,952 60,282 6.1   7.6   6.6   7.2 7.1 8.0 8.3   9.1 9.2
Oregon 43,416   64,676   58,946   52,786 56,598 51,036 50,050   53,127 52,230 7.9   11.7   10.7   9.2 9.8 8.8 8.6   9.1 9.3
Pennsylvania 42,412 3 42,795 3 47,014   52,624 56,454 61,724 68,443   72,200 71,571 2.3 3 2.4 3 2.6   3.1 3.3 3.6 4.0   4.2 4.2
Rhode Island 10,245   7,468   7,655   10,550 11,057 12,620 12,523   17,116 16,684 6.5   4.7   4.9   7.6 7.9 9.0 8.9   12.2 12.2

South Carolina
5,121   14,388   36,379   42,574 44,301 45,574 45,411   45,871 42,731 0.8   2.1   5.2   5.8 5.9 6.1 6.0   6.0 5.7
South Dakota 4,270   5,110   4,383   4,598 4,678 5,452 5,975   6,579 6,529 3.3   4.0   3.5   3.5 3.5 4.1 4.4   4.8 4.8
Tennessee 26,452 3 28,251 3 29,681   40,637 43,277 44,790 45,266   50,037 51,568 3.0 3 3.1 3 3.2   4.2 4.4 4.6 4.6   5.1 5.4
Texas 570,453   711,737   738,663   892,082 922,012 926,325 966,594   1,021,540 1,034,543 14.1   16.7   16.8   17.6 18.0 18.0 18.7   19.6 20.1
Utah 38,998   49,973   42,804   42,815 41,339 46,220 50,463   54,357 54,067 8.2   10.3   8.7   6.8 6.4 7.1 7.6   8.1 8.1

Vermont
942   1,775   1,510   1,448 1,506 1,770 1,753 3 1,683 1,734 0.9   1.8   1.5   1.8 1.9 2.2 2.2 3 2.2 2.3
Virginia 36,802   72,420   88,033   109,104 100,814 114,739 107,173   115,803 117,553 3.2   6.2   7.3   8.7 8.0 9.1 8.5   9.2 9.6
Washington 70,431 3 75,103   90,282   112,763 122,408 127,777 128,795   129,564 125,822 7.0 3 7.4   8.9   10.5 11.3 11.7 11.8   11.7 11.8
West Virginia 920   1,944   1,788   2,812 2,546 2,035 2,012   2,040 1,686 0.3   0.7   0.6   1.1 1.0 0.8 0.8   0.8 0.7
Wisconsin 22,542   30,130   43,638   45,669 46,342 49,905 51,094   50,902 43,359 2.6   3.4   5.0   5.6 5.7 6.2 6.4   6.4 5.5
Wyoming 2,534   3,077   2,602   2,964 2,849 2,839 2,704   2,736 2,531 2.8   3.6   3.1   3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9   2.9 2.7
1U.S. total includes imputation for nonreporting states.  
2Data 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).    
3Imputation 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 EL students. Starting with 2010, states were instructed to exclude prekindergarten EL students from EDFacts reporting. Data for 2014 and earlier years include only those EL students who participated in EL programs. Starting with 2015, data include all EL students, regardless of program participation. For 2018 and earlier, 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. Starting with 2019, counts and percentages are based on data collected at the state level.  
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, and "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 2019-20 and 2020-21; and EDFacts file 141, Data Group 678, 2020-21. (This table was prepared October 2022.)  

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest