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 | 2,483,135 | 96.11% | 2,578,477 | 94.16% |
| Spanish | 31,620 | 1.22% | 79,491 | 2.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 49,541 | 1.92% | 49,032 | 1.79% |
| Asian Language** | 15,381 | 0.60% | 25,335 | 0.93% |
| Other | 3,849 | 0.15% | 6,164 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,583,526 | 100.00% | 2,738,499 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 36,606 | 46.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,651 | 31.92% |
| Asian Language** | 13,606 | 53.70% |
| Other Language | 2,245 | 36.42% |
| Total | 68,108 | 2.49% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,114 | 35.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,332 | 28.93% |
| Asian Language** | 8,995 | 58.48% |
| Other Language | 966 | 25.10% |
| Total | 35,407 | 1.37% |
* "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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