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 | 5,794,548 | 80.47% | 5,854,578 | 74.52% |
| Spanish | 621,416 | 8.63% | 967,741 | 12.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 567,972 | 7.89% | 659,248 | 8.39% |
| Asian Language** | 153,671 | 2.13% | 275,832 | 3.51% |
| Other | 63,089 | 0.88% | 98,869 | 1.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 7,200,696 | 100.00% | 7,856,268 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 483,069 | 49.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 241,627 | 36.65% |
| Asian Language** | 119,581 | 43.35% |
| Other Language | 28,811 | 29.14% |
| Total | 873,088 | 11.11% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 311,025 | 50.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 205,089 | 36.11% |
| Asian Language** | 73,390 | 47.76% |
| Other Language | 19,492 | 30.90% |
| Total | 608,996 | 8.46% |
* "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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