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 | 2,066,827 | 93.74% | 2,186,886 | 91.60% |
| Spanish | 35,284 | 1.60% | 61,312 | 2.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 70,714 | 3.21% | 80,778 | 3.38% |
| Asian Language** | 24,760 | 1.12% | 42,252 | 1.77% |
| Other | 7,292 | 0.33% | 16,116 | 0.68% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,204,877 | 100.00% | 2,387,344 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 22,787 | 37.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24,726 | 30.61% |
| Asian Language** | 20,901 | 49.47% |
| Other Language | 3,416 | 21.20% |
| Total | 71,830 | 3.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,047 | 34.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,016 | 29.72% |
| Asian Language** | 12,538 | 50.64% |
| Other Language | 1,668 | 22.87% |
| Total | 47,269 | 2.14% |
* "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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