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 | 1,642,022 | 84.09% | 2,148,696 | 75.85% |
| Spanish | 227,500 | 11.65% | 540,742 | 19.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 47,471 | 2.43% | 70,694 | 2.50% |
| Asian Language** | 20,196 | 1.03% | 45,155 | 1.59% |
| Other | 15,607 | 0.80% | 27,407 | 0.97% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,952,796 | 100.00% | 2,832,694 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 280,854 | 51.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,867 | 28.10% |
| Asian Language** | 20,221 | 44.78% |
| Other Language | 7,093 | 25.88% |
| Total | 328,035 | 11.58% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 93,507 | 41.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,704 | 26.76% |
| Asian Language** | 10,131 | 50.16% |
| Other Language | 4,457 | 28.56% |
| Total | 120,799 | 6.19% |
* "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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