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 | 5,931,435 | 96.10% | 6,909,648 | 91.97% |
| Spanish | 105,963 | 1.72% | 378,942 | 5.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 90,979 | 1.47% | 119,961 | 1.60% |
| Asian Language** | 33,083 | 0.54% | 78,246 | 1.04% |
| Other | 10,841 | 0.18% | 26,368 | 0.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 6,172,301 | 100.00% | 7,513,165 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 218,792 | 57.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32,041 | 26.71% |
| Asian Language** | 39,065 | 49.93% |
| Other Language | 7,960 | 30.19% |
| Total | 297,858 | 3.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 40,122 | 37.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,766 | 29.42% |
| Asian Language** | 16,839 | 50.90% |
| Other Language | 3,087 | 28.48% |
| Total | 86,814 | 1.41% |
* "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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