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 | 2,305,271 | 75.86% | 2,556,609 | 66.56% |
| Spanish | 557,933 | 18.36% | 1,001,875 | 26.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 76,682 | 2.52% | 109,888 | 2.86% |
| Asian Language** | 82,731 | 2.72% | 140,838 | 3.67% |
| Other | 16,092 | 0.53% | 31,780 | 0.83% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,038,709 | 100.00% | 3,840,990 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 520,969 | 52.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29,894 | 27.20% |
| Asian Language** | 72,910 | 51.77% |
| Other Language | 7,178 | 22.59% |
| Total | 630,951 | 16.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 272,288 | 48.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,771 | 25.78% |
| Asian Language** | 42,181 | 50.99% |
| Other Language | 3,718 | 23.10% |
| Total | 337,958 | 11.12% |
* "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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