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 | 4,753,523 | 84.80% | 4,838,679 | 81.26% |
| Spanish | 228,458 | 4.08% | 370,011 | 6.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 499,581 | 8.91% | 529,784 | 8.90% |
| Asian Language** | 96,706 | 1.73% | 171,253 | 2.88% |
| Other | 27,483 | 0.49% | 44,522 | 0.75% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,605,751 | 100.00% | 5,954,249 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 162,908 | 44.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 194,256 | 36.67% |
| Asian Language** | 89,931 | 52.51% |
| Other Language | 11,978 | 26.90% |
| Total | 459,073 | 7.71% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 111,108 | 48.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 174,117 | 34.85% |
| Asian Language** | 56,285 | 58.20% |
| Other Language | 7,276 | 26.47% |
| Total | 348,786 | 6.22% |
* "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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