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 | 3,811,700 | 94.38% | 4,201,503 | 91.51% |
| Spanish | 42,362 | 1.05% | 132,066 | 2.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 116,226 | 2.88% | 110,644 | 2.41% |
| Asian Language** | 47,776 | 1.18% | 103,520 | 2.25% |
| Other | 20,797 | 0.51% | 43,758 | 0.95% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,038,861 | 100.00% | 4,591,491 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 61,817 | 46.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,433 | 27.51% |
| Asian Language** | 57,969 | 56.00% |
| Other Language | 17,292 | 39.52% |
| Total | 167,511 | 3.65% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 14,200 | 33.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,363 | 26.12% |
| Asian Language** | 30,163 | 63.13% |
| Other Language | 4,615 | 22.19% |
| Total | 79,341 | 1.96% |
* "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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