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 | 4,030,234 | 91.07% | 4,322,329 | 87.41% |
| Spanish | 122,871 | 2.78% | 230,829 | 4.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 160,202 | 3.62% | 198,932 | 4.02% |
| Asian Language** | 84,160 | 1.90% | 135,899 | 2.75% |
| Other | 27,818 | 0.63% | 57,054 | 1.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,425,285 | 100.00% | 4,945,043 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 108,578 | 47.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 58,632 | 29.47% |
| Asian Language** | 65,973 | 48.55% |
| Other Language | 13,104 | 22.97% |
| Total | 246,287 | 4.98% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 53,198 | 43.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 46,440 | 28.99% |
| Asian Language** | 42,007 | 49.91% |
| Other Language | 6,848 | 24.62% |
| Total | 148,493 | 3.36% |
* "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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