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 | 3,651,936 | 97.13% | 3,989,795 | 96.09% |
| Spanish | 42,653 | 1.13% | 89,729 | 2.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44,985 | 1.20% | 43,812 | 1.06% |
| Asian Language** | 15,842 | 0.42% | 22,122 | 0.53% |
| Other | 4,386 | 0.12% | 6,820 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,759,802 | 100.00% | 4,152,278 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 40,299 | 44.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,225 | 25.62% |
| Asian Language** | 10,546 | 47.67% |
| Other Language | 1,847 | 27.08% |
| Total | 63,917 | 1.54% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 14,168 | 33.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,731 | 28.30% |
| Asian Language** | 7,920 | 49.99% |
| Other Language | 1,199 | 27.34% |
| Total | 36,018 | 0.96% |
* "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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