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 | 2,312,289 | 97.20% | 2,545,931 | 96.38% |
| Spanish | 25,061 | 1.05% | 50,515 | 1.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 25,162 | 1.06% | 23,700 | 0.90% |
| Asian Language** | 9,773 | 0.41% | 13,558 | 0.51% |
| Other | 6,520 | 0.27% | 7,749 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,378,805 | 100.00% | 2,641,453 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 20,856 | 41.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,805 | 24.49% |
| Asian Language** | 6,303 | 46.49% |
| Other Language | 3,095 | 39.94% |
| Total | 36,059 | 1.37% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,890 | 35.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,781 | 30.92% |
| Asian Language** | 4,451 | 45.54% |
| Other Language | 3,390 | 51.99% |
| Total | 24,512 | 1.03% |
* "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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