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 | 2,448,772 | 92.74% | 2,810,654 | 87.85% |
| Spanish | 83,087 | 3.15% | 217,614 | 6.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 57,997 | 2.20% | 82,828 | 2.59% |
| Asian Language** | 42,470 | 1.61% | 75,279 | 2.35% |
| Other | 8,156 | 0.31% | 12,948 | 0.40% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,640,482 | 100.00% | 3,199,323 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 116,557 | 53.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 28,497 | 34.41% |
| Asian Language** | 39,972 | 53.10% |
| Other Language | 3,932 | 30.37% |
| Total | 188,958 | 5.91% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 36,181 | 43.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,160 | 29.59% |
| Asian Language** | 22,470 | 52.91% |
| Other Language | 2,351 | 28.83% |
| Total | 78,162 | 2.96% |
* "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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