A baker in East San José rolls up the shutter before dawn. By seven the line holds a roofing crew on the way to a job, two nurses heading home from a night shift and a father buying pan dulce for a classroom party. The bakery's payroll and rent depend on that line, and the line depends on the households around it.
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) measures those households every year. In the nine counties the chamber serves (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma), 1,914,141 residents were Hispanic or Latino in 2024: one in four people (25.0 percent).
These are 2024 estimates, the most recent the Bureau has published. Its 2025 estimates are scheduled for release on October 29, 2026, and we will update this page with them that day. Nationally, the Bureau's population estimates count 70.1 million Hispanic residents as of July 1, 2025, about 21 percent of the U.S. population.
Workers and households
About 966,000 Latino residents age 16 and older had jobs in 2024, about one in four (24.2 percent) of all employed residents of the nine counties. They live in 541,138 Latino-headed households, about one in five households in the region.
Of those households, 221,403 own their home: 40.9 percent, plus or minus 1.1 points. Ownership runs from about a quarter of Latino households in San Francisco to more than half in Contra Costa. The other 319,735 households rent. More than half of Latino renter households (55.7 percent) spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and about one in four (26.8 percent) spend more than half.
A family that spends half its income on rent has less left for the bakery, the mechanic and the dentist down the street. When these families stay housed and settled, the businesses that serve them and employ them keep their customers and their crews.
Income, county by county
Census does not publish a median for the nine counties combined, and medians cannot be added or averaged, so the table shows each county. Income is for households headed by a Hispanic or Latino person.
| County | Latino residents | Share of residents | Median household income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda | 388,382 | 23.6% | $96,036 |
| Contra Costa | 331,100 | 28.2% | $103,098 |
| Marin | 52,298 | 20.4% | $98,235 |
| Napa | 49,436 | 37.2% | $107,125 |
| San Francisco | 138,892 | 16.8% | $110,207 |
| San Mateo | 185,650 | 25.0% | $106,586 |
| Santa Clara | 477,197 | 24.8% | $107,706 |
| Solano | 140,648 | 30.9% | $79,489 |
| Sonoma | 150,538 | 31.0% | $90,574 |
| Nine counties | 1,914,141 | 25.0% | Not published |
Source: 2024 ACS 1-year estimates, tables B03002 and B19013I.
The income figures are survey estimates. In Marin, Napa and San Francisco the margin of error is about $20,000 or more either way, so read those three as ranges. The population counts are set to match the Bureau's official population estimates, so Census publishes no margin of error for them.
Poverty and health coverage
About 195,000 Latino residents, 10.4 percent (plus or minus 0.8 points), lived below the official poverty level in 2024. In eight of the nine counties the rate fell between about 9 and 13 percent. Marin's estimate is higher, 25.5 percent, but its margin of error is nearly 9 points. The official thresholds are the same across the country and are not adjusted for local housing costs, so read this rate alongside the rent figures above.
Most Latino residents had health insurance: 91.9 percent. The gap sits with working-age adults. About 3 percent of children under 19 were uninsured, compared with 11.1 percent of adults ages 19 to 64, the years when most people are at work.
Two languages at home
About two in three Latino residents age 5 and older (67.8 percent) speak Spanish at home, and 70.2 percent speak only English or speak it "very well." Close to four in ten (38.3 percent) do both: they speak Spanish at home and speak English "very well." About 533,000 speak English less than "very well." They are customers and coworkers a bilingual sign, menu or notice can reach.
Reading the numbers with care
The ACS is a sample survey, and the Bureau publishes margins of error at the 90 percent confidence level. We note them where they change the reading. The 2024 estimates are tied to new population controls that use an improved method for estimating international migration, and the Bureau advises: "Use caution when interpreting significant changes that may be a result of the methodology." For that reason this piece does not compare 2024 with earlier years. When the 2025 figures arrive, we will compare rates and medians, as the Bureau recommends, rather than headcounts.
Regional counts here are sums of the nine county estimates, and regional rates divide one sum by another. Margins of error are combined with the Bureau's standard formulas.
What you can do
- Owners and managers: plan hiring, service and marketing with local numbers. The chamber's Hispanic Market Guide adds the national picture on population growth, business growth and household spending.
- Working adults without coverage, and employers who want to help them: Covered California open enrollment runs November 1 to January 31.
- Everyone: tell us which of these numbers matter to your family or your business, and what they miss. Write to the chamber, and we will read the 2025 figures with your questions in hand.
