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 | 9,517,064 | 94.57% | 9,951,475 | 93.88% |
| Spanish | 139,194 | 1.38% | 213,147 | 2.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 310,850 | 3.09% | 296,816 | 2.80% |
| Asian Language** | 54,595 | 0.54% | 84,658 | 0.80% |
| Other | 41,509 | 0.41% | 53,872 | 0.51% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 10,063,212 | 100.00% | 10,599,968 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 77,394 | 36.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 99,316 | 33.46% |
| Asian Language** | 40,574 | 47.93% |
| Other Language | 17,175 | 31.88% |
| Total | 234,459 | 2.21% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 48,080 | 34.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 102,498 | 32.97% |
| Asian Language** | 27,008 | 49.47% |
| Other Language | 12,279 | 29.58% |
| Total | 189,865 | 1.89% |
* "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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