Table 3. Language Use and English Ability, Persons 18 Years and Over, by State: 1990 Census Persons 18 Years and Over ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speaks NonEnglish Language at Home In Households -------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- Speaks Ability to Speak English Linguist- All Speak only ---------------------------------------------- Speaks ically NonEnglish State Total English Total Percent Very well Well Not well Not at all Spanish Isolated* Language ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- US, Total 185,103,329 159,581,284 25,522,045 13.8 13,927,786 5,829,621 4,065,180 1,699,458 13,177,411 5,978,086 17,513,201 Alabama 2,980,586 2,895,842 84,744 2.8 56,843 17,743 9,374 784 31,287 8,944 30,420 Alaska 378,355 329,348 49,007 13.0 30,638 11,897 5,489 983 8,468 7,040 25,797 Arizona 2,686,445 2,142,940 543,505 20.2 328,667 114,588 66,442 33,808 364,466 104,961 359,054 Arkansas 1,729,457 1,682,263 47,194 2.7 30,113 9,581 6,713 787 19,924 6,606 18,402 California 22,020,542 15,280,165 6,740,377 30.6 3,114,499 1,543,817 1,353,014 729,047 4,128,114 1,999,161 5,055,017 Colorado 2,434,408 2,164,979 269,429 11.1 177,448 55,095 29,896 6,990 169,707 42,753 148,537 Connecticut 2,537,333 2,149,199 388,134 15.3 230,854 94,287 50,037 12,956 121,733 76,153 256,799 Delaware 503,161 468,237 34,924 6.9 23,120 7,440 3,719 645 11,296 4,944 18,792 D.C. 490,276 428,372 61,904 12.6 36,765 12,201 9,943 2,995 28,885 14,382 41,538 Florida 10,073,426 8,335,563 1,737,863 17.3 890,001 380,862 292,676 174,324 1,168,410 456,399 1,313,678 Georgia 4,747,566 4,518,996 228,570 4.8 139,354 48,647 32,574 7,995 95,172 38,773 110,739 Hawaii 828,004 602,880 225,124 27.2 111,959 68,932 38,991 5,242 12,075 47,279 123,025 Idaho 698,912 653,158 45,754 6.5 28,091 8,380 6,600 2,683 27,110 7,950 23,289 Illinois 8,482,781 7,285,756 1,197,025 14.1 641,073 287,771 203,937 64,244 533,604 287,842 862,383 Indiana 4,086,634 3,892,459 194,175 4.8 126,271 45,239 20,706 1,959 67,998 28,030 96,432 Iowa 2,057,411 1,977,760 79,651 3.9 51,619 17,573 9,377 1,082 22,378 12,242 37,092 Kansas 1,815,572 1,709,004 106,568 5.9 67,044 22,972 13,914 2,638 48,118 19,099 54,876 Kentucky 2,729,678 2,663,259 66,419 2.4 44,471 13,361 7,795 792 22,247 6,483 22,378 Louisiana 2,990,696 2,648,084 342,612 11.5 231,133 77,612 29,400 4,467 56,826 51,089 175,160 Maine 918,628 823,073 95,555 10.4 70,451 19,096 5,606 402 4,527 11,080 52,018 Maryland 3,619,246 3,292,099 327,147 9.0 200,533 72,834 44,302 9,478 96,698 59,162 200,307 Massachusetts 4,665,040 3,956,340 708,700 15.2 410,358 158,317 102,781 37,244 165,787 156,297 482,541 Michigan 6,833,574 6,359,730 473,844 6.9 312,997 101,895 50,981 7,971 104,403 68,903 265,906 Minnesota 3,207,190 3,022,192 184,998 5.8 122,670 38,800 19,681 3,847 31,087 30,372 97,393 Mississippi 1,825,845 1,775,923 49,922 2.7 31,596 11,279 6,547 500 17,886 5,629 17,817 Missouri 3,801,603 3,657,124 144,479 3.8 93,771 32,221 16,900 1,587 45,768 19,964 63,301 Montana 576,278 545,640 30,638 5.3 21,283 6,893 2,352 110 6,372 3,133 12,405 Nebraska 1,149,198 1,090,582 58,616 5.1 39,687 11,745 6,369 815 18,886 7,884 28,872 Nevada 907,074 784,977 122,097 13.5 68,882 28,066 18,723 6,426 68,417 29,138 76,223 New Hampshire 830,129 749,894 80,235 9.7 58,012 15,657 5,833 733 7,430 9,704 41,237 New Jersey 5,931,524 4,771,171 1,160,353 19.6 627,630 280,823 187,480 64,420 481,105 265,269 846,010 New Mexico 1,068,630 669,350 399,280 37.4 273,439 80,448 33,380 12,013 315,674 61,580 266,439 New York 13,734,154 10,526,222 3,207,932 23.4 1,690,354 778,514 541,603 197,461 1,433,202 815,234 2,421,702 North Carolina 5,020,144 4,833,660 186,484 3.7 121,454 37,329 24,833 2,868 74,687 22,793 76,264 North Dakota 463,119 419,678 43,441 9.4 32,672 7,993 2,703 73 3,076 4,811 23,173 Ohio 8,043,319 7,597,760 445,559 5.5 292,264 101,563 46,785 4,947 101,309 68,810 238,133 Oklahoma 2,308,740 2,191,293 117,447 5.1 75,035 26,018 14,109 2,285 48,474 17,890 55,171 Oregon 2,117,914 1,962,980 154,934 7.3 89,941 32,860 24,086 8,047 63,764 30,737 88,481 Pennsylvania 9,084,701 8,414,028 670,673 7.4 427,451 152,435 75,180 15,607 155,057 113,557 386,061 Rhode Island 777,459 643,937 133,522 17.2 76,523 28,879 20,696 7,424 25,762 28,942 92,406 South Carolina 2,564,655 2,474,838 89,817 3.5 60,128 18,444 10,327 918 33,026 8,212 31,949 South Dakota 497,059 460,914 36,145 7.3 25,572 7,444 3,064 65 3,584 4,779 17,063 Tennessee 3,661,529 3,558,673 102,856 2.8 67,034 21,690 13,091 1,041 36,455 12,529 40,126 Texas 12,151,158 9,155,136 2,996,022 24.7 1,622,180 692,473 456,668 224,701 2,550,722 714,958 2,237,826 Utah 1,094,922 999,952 94,970 8.7 62,573 19,988 10,431 1,978 40,150 13,928 46,969 Vermont 419,178 391,981 27,197 6.5 20,724 4,293 2,050 130 2,630 2,708 12,507 Virginia 4,683,031 4,339,144 343,887 7.3 206,326 76,813 48,794 11,954 121,112 63,772 199,376 Washington 3,608,232 3,283,326 324,906 9.0 189,776 70,500 49,167 15,463 107,973 67,036 187,206 West Virginia 1,349,271 1,314,197 35,074 2.6 24,295 6,674 3,870 235 9,459 3,351 13,402 Wisconsin 3,601,035 3,388,568 212,467 5.9 138,491 45,701 24,118 4,157 53,773 33,476 112,715 Wyoming 318,507 298,638 19,869 6.2 13,721 3,938 2,073 137 11,338 2,318 8,794 * A linguistically isolated household is one in which no person 14 or older speaks English at least very well. NOTE: 1990 Census language questions: "Does this person speak a language other than English at home?" "What is this language?" "How well does this person speak English --very well, well, not well, not at all?" Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, CPHL-96 Contact: Education and Social Stratification Branch, Population Division 301-457-2464