The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 3,610,208 | 91.57% | 3,678,289 | 89.02% |
| Spanish | 57,310 | 1.45% | 98,928 | 2.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 189,798 | 4.81% | 196,137 | 4.75% |
| Asian Language** | 31,167 | 0.79% | 56,921 | 1.38% |
| Other | 54,240 | 1.38% | 101,825 | 2.46% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,942,723 | 100.00% | 4,132,100 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 42,558 | 43.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 68,697 | 35.03% |
| Asian Language** | 24,803 | 43.57% |
| Other Language | 41,818 | 41.07% |
| Total | 177,876 | 4.30% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 19,067 | 33.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 59,880 | 31.55% |
| Asian Language** | 14,509 | 46.55% |
| Other Language | 20,764 | 38.28% |
| Total | 114,220 | 2.90% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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