How many bilinguals or multilinguals are there in the US?
In 2020, researcher François Grossjean suggested that the number of bilinguals is particularly hard to nail down because the Census Bureau doesn’t track the number of people who use multiple languages in their everyday lives. However, they do ask some specific language-related questions: “Does this person speak a language other than English at home? What is this language? How well does this person speak English (very well, well, not well, not at all)? These questions were first asked in the census every 10 years, but they are now part of the annual American Community Survey (ACS)” (Grossjean, 2020). Grossjean also points out that bilingualism has been on the rise in the U.S. over the last several decades, while the rate of non-English speakers has remained roughly constant.
Roughly 1 in 5 Americans speak more than one language, with varying levels of ability. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, roughly 22% of people aged 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home, based on data from 2017–2021 (www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/2017-2021-acs-language-use-tables.html). As your students achieve the Seal of Biliteracy, they become members of a unique segment of the population! You can help them promote their bilingualism as an employability asset. Encourage them to emphasize their bilingualism and to include their ACTFL credentialing in their job applications.
Why settle for $10/hr when you can get $12/hr?
LTI’s 2024 Bilingual Incentive Pay Survey revealed that employers across several industries are offering incentive pay for bilingual skills. Regarding what factors affect bilingual incentive pay, the HR and Leadership news bulletin WorkLife reports, “…factors like how often someone will speak in that language and if they are transcribing or interpreting as well are all taken into consideration when determining their salary” (www.worklife.news/talent/bilingual-pay). This underscores the value of a certified, legally defensible measure of an employee’s language abilities. Only ACTFL language proficiency certificates are legally defensible. When your students attain an ACTFL proficiency credential, they instantly become more marketable in the workforce.
With research showing that multilinguals earn 5-20% more than their monolingual peers, here’s some information from Forbes magazine that can help you connect your students to higher-paying employment opportunities!
How do I find incentive compensation policies and opportunities?
Although there are many opportunities, it can be challenging to identify job roles that offer bilingual pay incentives, and there are some caveats to keep in mind. High-school-aged learners may pursue job opportunities in the retail or food service industries (especially in employment positions sought after by students), but you might not find a publicly posted policy that says, “If you are bilingual, you will get $x more per hour or an x% increase over the base pay.”
Typically, any bilingual requirements will be associated with certain roles, which tend to be higher-paying roles regardless of the bilingual requirement. That said, many national franchises, where high school students often find employment during their teenage years, do offer incentive pay for language ability! One caveat to note: policies for bilingual pay can vary by franchise owner/operator rather than by brand policy. Also, even where bilingual roles might be posted, the proficiency level requirements may vary significantly among the postings and may impact how much (or if any) extra pay is awarded. And those details are often not publicly available.
In spite of these caveats, several national chains do publicly indicate that they offer a pay differential for bilingual skills. Here are just a few.
| Company/Chain | Job Opportunities* |
| Spectrum (Charter Communications) | Retail Sales Specialist roles (“Bilingual Spanish”) with hourly base pay (~$18-$20/hr): these listings do tie extra earnings to performance (commissions etc.) when bilingual skills are required. (Spectrum) |
| Lowe’s Home Improvement | Bilingual Specialists roles: the pay for bilinguals (base + bonus / additional pay) is significantly higher than many “standard” roles. (Glassdoor) |
| The Home Depot | Bilingual Sales Associate roles: higher per-hour pay ranges for bilingual roles (often $17-$26/hr) as compared to non-bilingual roles. (Glassdoor) |
| The Restaurant Store | Bilingual Customer Sales Associate roles: a higher hourly base pay ($18-$20/hr) is listed for roles that have Spanish-speaking customers. (Indeed) |
| Ojos Locos | Various roles are awarded higher pay, including Bilingual Restaurant General Manager – for this role specifically, bilingualism is in the job description. (The Ladders) |
| Chick-fil-A | Various roles are awarded higher pay, including Bilingual Night Kitchen Manager – this role includes increased responsibility and pay and lists “bilingual” as a job requirement. (Breakroom) |
| Torchy’s Tacos | Torchy’s implemented a “bilingual benefit” for staff. The wording suggests it’s a benefit, likely meaning extra compensation or premiums for bilingual staff. (Indeed) |
*Note: These jobs openings were active at the time of publication. Though they may not still be listed in the future, a sampling of listings is included in the Appendix with screenshots for reference.
You can also help your students think about their longer-term goals. How valuable is their language as they consider professional career choices? Here is a list of just 10 Fortune-500 companies (organized by industry) that nationally hire bilingual staff and commonly advertise bilingual roles, language-preferred positions, and/or pay/bonus enhancements for language skills.
Note: the job openings listed below were active at the time of publication. Though they may not still be listed in the future, a sampling of listings is included in the Appendix with screenshots for reference.
Banking / Financial Services
- Bank of America — regularly posts bilingual (Spanish, Mandarin, etc.) relationship-banker and customer roles; bilingual skills are explicitly requested in many openings. Bank of America
- JPMorgan Chase — multiple bilingual customer-service and account specialist roles; bilingual hires typically appear in higher-value customer facing positions. Indeed
Retail / Big-box
- Walmart — many bilingual customer service/shopper support roles nationwide and posted bilingual salaries for specific positions. Indeed
- Target — advertises bilingual call-center and store roles; posted pay data shows bilingual positions often have higher reported pay. Indeed
Tech / E-commerce & Logistics
- Amazon — posts bilingual roles across customer support, vendor relations and logistics; Amazon lists bilingual-required positions with market-based pay. jobs
Healthcare / Health Insurance / Pharmacy
- UnitedHealth Group / Optum — numerous bilingual member-services and care-coordination roles; bilingual postings often report higher pay than monolingual equivalents. Indeed
- CVS Health — bilingual retail/clinic and call center positions nationwide (many listings show bilingual requirements and pay ranges). CVS Health
Airlines / Travel
- Delta Air Lines — posts bilingual flight attendant and customer service roles; bilingual flight attendants / reps commonly report higher total pay. Glassdoor+1
Telecom / Cable
- AT&T — maintains hundreds of bilingual retail & customer support listings (Spanish and other languages) in its careers portal. AT&T Jobs
- Charter Communications / Spectrum — posts bilingual call-center & retail roles and advertises incentive/commission opportunities in bilingual sales/CS positions. Spectrum Jobs+1
Lead with Languages!
Help your learners lead with languages – in any job application, they should indicate their credentialed language ability. In any interview, they can ask if there are pay incentives for being bilingual. In some cases, they may more quickly become eligible for raises and supervisory roles or opportunities due to having bilingual skills. Not only can you help connect your students to higher paying jobs while in high school (and beyond), but by doing so, you can position yourself as an integral partner in developing college and career readiness among learners in your school and district.
Appendix: A Sampling of Job Listings (screenshots)
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