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 | 2,158,011 | 94.25% | 2,281,705 | 91.26% |
| Spanish | 62,059 | 2.71% | 137,247 | 5.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44,110 | 1.93% | 41,207 | 1.65% |
| Asian Language** | 21,406 | 0.93% | 33,203 | 1.33% |
| Other | 4,029 | 0.18% | 6,998 | 0.28% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,289,615 | 100.00% | 2,500,360 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 67,973 | 49.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10,778 | 26.16% |
| Asian Language** | 17,412 | 52.44% |
| Other Language | 2,044 | 29.21% |
| Total | 98,207 | 3.93% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 23,574 | 37.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,580 | 26.25% |
| Asian Language** | 11,925 | 55.71% |
| Other Language | 1,263 | 31.35% |
| Total | 48,342 | 2.11% |
* "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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