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 | 2,775,957 | 95.01% | 2,977,187 | 92.58% |
| Spanish | 64,562 | 2.21% | 141,060 | 4.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 35,462 | 1.21% | 36,892 | 1.15% |
| Asian Language** | 22,575 | 0.77% | 34,517 | 1.07% |
| Other | 23,199 | 0.79% | 26,063 | 0.81% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,921,755 | 100.00% | 3,215,719 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 65,280 | 46.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,045 | 24.52% |
| Asian Language** | 18,325 | 53.09% |
| Other Language | 6,340 | 24.33% |
| Total | 98,990 | 3.08% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 24,194 | 37.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,146 | 25.79% |
| Asian Language** | 11,564 | 51.22% |
| Other Language | 6,981 | 30.09% |
| Total | 51,885 | 1.78% |
* "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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