The Need for Language Access in COVID-19 Hot Spots
There are over 16.5 million Limited English Proficient (LEP) persons in the 30 metropolitan1 areas with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The percentage of LEP speakers is higher in the COVID-19 hot spots – e.g., a total of 12.1% for the top 30 metropolitan areas – than for the US as a whole (8.3% LEP).
By language spoken at home, the largest language access needs are as follows:
| Language Spoken at Home | LEP Persons (Aged 5 and UP) in Top 30 COVID-19 MSAs | COVID-19 Hot Spot MSAs with Largest Populations of Specified LEP Speakers |
| Spanish | 9,506,558 | Los Angeles, New York, Miami |
| Chinese | 1,359,283 | New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco |
| Vietnamese | 510,724 | Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas |
| Korean | 428,269 | Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC |
| Tagalog | 289,269 | Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York |
| Arabic | 283,622 | New York, Detroit, Los Angeles |
| Russian | 274,546 | New York, Los Angeles, Chicago |
| Haitian | 255,317 | Miami, New York, Boston |
| Portuguese | 213,582 | Boston, New York, Miami |
| Polish | 166,786 | Chicago, New York, Detroit |
| French | 156,570 | New York, Miami, Washington DC |
| Bengali | 130,742 | New York, Detroit, Philadelphia |
Data Source: US Census, 2018 1-year American Community Survey
By Top-30 COVID-19 Hot Spots with the highest percentage of LEP speakers, the largest language access needs by MSAs with the highest concentrations of LEP population are as follows:
| MSA | % LEP | Top 5 Language Needs by LEP Population |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL MSA | 23.5% | 1. Spanish
2. Haitian 3. Portuguese 4. French 5. Chinese |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA | 22.0% | 1. Spanish
2. Chinese 3. Vietnamese 4. Korean 5. Tagalog |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA | 17.0% | 1. Spanish
2. Vietnamese 3. Chinese 4. Arabic 5. Urdu |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | 16.3% | 1. Spanish
2. Chinese 3. Russian 4. Korean 5. Bengali |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA | 15.3% | 1. Spanish
2. Chinese 3. Tagalog 4. Vietnamese 5. Korean |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA MSA | 15.2% | 1. Spanish
2. Chinese 3. Tagalog 4. Vietnamese 5. Korean |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA | 13.0% | 1. Spanish
2. Vietnamese 3. Chinese 4. Korean 5. Arabic |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA | 10.7% | 1. Spanish
2. Polish 3. Chinese 4. Arabic 5. Tagalog |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA | 10.5% | 1. Spanish
2. Chinese 3. Korean 4. Vietnamese 5. Amharic, Somali or other Afro-Asiatic Language |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA | 9.8% | 1. Spanish
2. Chinese 3. Portuguese 4. Haitian 5. Vietnamese |
1 As of 1/22/21, the 30 MSAs with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases are: 1. New York City, 2. Los Angeles, 3. Chicago, 4. Dallas, 5. Miami, 6. Riverside, 7. Phoenix, 8. Houston, 9. Atlanta, 10. Philadelphia, 11. DC, 12. Boston, 13. Twin Cities, 14. Detroit, 15. St. Louis, 16. San Diego, 17. Nashville, 18. Las Vegas, 19. Denver, 20. San Francisco. 21. Charlotte, 22. Tampa, 23. San Antonio, 24. Indianapolis, 25. Orlando, 26. Cincinnati, 27. Milwaukee, 28. Columbus, 29. Kansas City, 30. Baltimore; per https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html.