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 | 964,298 | 86.84% | 1,425,748 | 76.91% |
| Spanish | 85,474 | 7.70% | 299,947 | 16.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29,370 | 2.64% | 47,183 | 2.55% |
| Asian Language** | 25,070 | 2.26% | 68,523 | 3.70% |
| Other | 6,238 | 0.56% | 12,319 | 0.66% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,110,450 | 100.00% | 1,853,720 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 162,301 | 54.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,295 | 26.06% |
| Asian Language** | 29,222 | 42.65% |
| Other Language | 3,869 | 31.41% |
| Total | 207,687 | 11.20% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 41,073 | 48.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,963 | 23.71% |
| Asian Language** | 12,280 | 48.98% |
| Other Language | 1,852 | 29.69% |
| Total | 62,168 | 5.60% |
* "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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