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 | 3,118,376 | 96.50% | 3,552,240 | 94.76% |
| Spanish | 44,427 | 1.37% | 110,030 | 2.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 50,881 | 1.57% | 55,116 | 1.47% |
| Asian Language** | 13,749 | 0.43% | 25,534 | 0.68% |
| Other | 4,106 | 0.13% | 5,749 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,231,539 | 100.00% | 3,748,669 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 53,604 | 48.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,485 | 26.28% |
| Asian Language** | 12,489 | 48.91% |
| Other Language | 1,701 | 29.59% |
| Total | 82,279 | 2.19% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,885 | 35.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,546 | 28.59% |
| Asian Language** | 6,187 | 45.00% |
| Other Language | 1,139 | 27.74% |
| Total | 37,757 | 1.17% |
* "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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