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 | 4,116,508 | 90.18% | 4,187,688 | 87.74% |
| Spanish | 151,521 | 3.32% | 224,517 | 4.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 212,889 | 4.66% | 218,025 | 4.57% |
| Asian Language** | 66,750 | 1.46% | 115,231 | 2.41% |
| Other | 17,191 | 0.38% | 27,267 | 0.57% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,564,859 | 100.00% | 4,772,728 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 91,315 | 40.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 74,798 | 34.31% |
| Asian Language** | 62,543 | 54.28% |
| Other Language | 7,970 | 29.23% |
| Total | 236,626 | 4.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 63,641 | 42.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 69,375 | 32.59% |
| Asian Language** | 36,335 | 54.43% |
| Other Language | 4,970 | 28.91% |
| Total | 174,321 | 3.82% |
* "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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