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 | 4,267,496 | 94.18% | 4,653,361 | 92.66% |
| Spanish | 75,931 | 1.68% | 168,778 | 3.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 143,832 | 3.17% | 124,719 | 2.48% |
| Asian Language** | 33,715 | 0.74% | 61,447 | 1.22% |
| Other | 10,160 | 0.22% | 13,768 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,531,134 | 100.00% | 5,022,073 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 76,697 | 45.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36,736 | 29.46% |
| Asian Language** | 31,942 | 51.98% |
| Other Language | 3,535 | 25.68% |
| Total | 148,910 | 2.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28,400 | 37.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 41,449 | 28.82% |
| Asian Language** | 20,812 | 61.73% |
| Other Language | 2,635 | 25.94% |
| Total | 93,296 | 2.06% |
* "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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