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 | 4,098,706 | 91.04% | 4,730,512 | 85.99% |
| Spanish | 143,647 | 3.19% | 321,490 | 5.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 110,814 | 2.46% | 176,722 | 3.21% |
| Asian Language** | 133,816 | 2.97% | 242,836 | 4.41% |
| Other | 14,896 | 0.33% | 29,838 | 0.54% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,501,879 | 100.00% | 5,501,398 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 155,374 | 48.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 62,281 | 35.24% |
| Asian Language** | 123,088 | 50.69% |
| Other Language | 10,171 | 34.09% |
| Total | 350,914 | 6.38% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 61,110 | 42.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 28,637 | 25.84% |
| Asian Language** | 71,124 | 53.15% |
| Other Language | 4,336 | 29.11% |
| Total | 165,207 | 3.67% |
* "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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