Table 1. Language Use and English Ability, Persons 5 Years and Over, by State: 1990 Census Persons 5 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 230,445,777 198,600,798 31,844,979 13.8 17,862,477 7,310,301 4,826,958 1,845,243 17,345,064 7,741,259 22,347,838 Alabama 3,759,802 3,651,936 107,866 2.9 71,848 22,656 12,434 928 42,653 11,066 35,841 Alaska 495,425 435,260 60,165 12.1 37,685 14,846 6,585 1,049 10,020 9,410 33,284 Arizona 3,374,806 2,674,519 700,287 20.8 424,380 153,484 85,157 37,266 478,234 143,397 485,838 Arkansas 2,186,665 2,125,884 60,781 2.8 39,396 11,909 8,636 840 27,351 8,188 21,834 California 27,383,547 18,764,213 8,619,334 31.5 4,196,551 2,010,713 1,608,830 803,240 5,478,712 2,680,665 6,676,115 Colorado 3,042,986 2,722,355 320,631 10.5 210,742 65,502 36,713 7,674 203,896 53,924 181,204 Connecticut 3,060,000 2,593,825 466,175 15.2 282,157 111,698 58,085 14,235 167,007 96,755 317,520 Delaware 617,720 575,393 42,327 6.9 27,758 9,130 4,701 738 15,302 6,209 22,799 D.C. 570,284 498,936 71,348 12.5 42,220 14,572 11,258 3,298 35,021 16,791 47,539 Florida 12,095,284 9,996,969 2,098,315 17.3 1,137,012 454,892 325,433 180,978 1,447,747 547,169 1,602,078 Georgia 5,984,188 5,699,642 284,546 4.8 175,496 60,477 39,800 8,773 122,295 48,609 135,580 Hawaii 1,026,209 771,485 254,724 24.8 130,306 76,827 42,225 5,366 13,729 56,638 143,305 Idaho 926,703 867,708 58,995 6.4 36,699 10,823 8,501 2,972 37,081 10,816 31,323 Illinois 10,585,838 9,086,726 1,499,112 14.2 841,129 349,780 237,365 70,838 728,380 370,081 1,100,609 Indiana 5,146,160 4,900,334 245,826 4.8 158,844 57,770 26,762 2,450 90,146 35,863 120,162 Iowa 2,583,526 2,483,135 100,391 3.9 64,984 21,984 12,169 1,254 31,620 15,040 43,885 Kansas 2,289,615 2,158,011 131,604 5.7 83,262 28,254 17,211 2,877 62,059 24,235 68,019 Kentucky 3,434,955 3,348,473 86,482 2.5 57,059 17,742 10,669 1,012 31,293 8,419 27,365 Louisiana 3,886,353 3,494,359 391,994 10.1 263,689 87,844 35,670 4,791 72,173 58,721 196,981 Maine 1,142,122 1,036,681 105,441 9.2 77,682 20,614 6,697 448 5,934 12,038 56,447 Maryland 4,425,285 4,030,234 395,051 8.9 246,558 86,309 51,899 10,285 122,871 72,827 241,751 Massachusetts 5,605,751 4,753,523 852,228 15.2 503,442 190,011 118,792 39,983 228,458 199,367 597,716 Michigan 8,594,737 8,024,930 569,807 6.6 381,145 118,799 61,113 8,750 137,490 84,011 316,875 Minnesota 4,038,861 3,811,700 227,161 5.6 147,820 48,487 26,149 4,705 42,362 40,207 117,704 Mississippi 2,378,805 2,312,289 66,516 2.8 42,004 15,434 8,505 573 25,061 7,684 22,752 Missouri 4,748,704 4,570,494 178,210 3.8 115,272 39,521 21,605 1,812 59,585 24,840 75,099 Montana 740,218 703,198 37,020 5.0 25,563 8,379 2,905 173 8,083 3,755 14,762 Nebraska 1,458,904 1,389,032 69,872 4.8 47,620 13,712 7,683 857 24,555 9,147 33,033 Nevada 1,110,450 964,298 146,152 13.2 83,984 33,477 21,570 7,121 85,474 36,443 93,704 New Hampshire 1,024,621 935,825 88,796 8.7 63,986 17,258 6,739 813 9,619 10,975 45,083 New Jersey 7,200,696 5,794,548 1,406,148 19.5 797,152 330,728 210,382 67,886 621,416 329,111 1,048,685 New Mexico 1,390,048 896,049 493,999 35.5 334,379 103,456 43,373 12,791 388,186 82,384 344,802 New York 16,743,048 12,834,328 3,908,720 23.3 2,143,194 937,207 617,596 210,723 1,848,825 1,006,857 2,995,050 North Carolina 6,172,301 5,931,435 240,866 3.9 154,052 49,332 34,169 3,313 105,963 28,473 91,354 North Dakota 590,839 543,942 46,897 7.9 35,234 8,630 2,954 79 4,296 5,124 24,111 Ohio 10,063,212 9,517,064 546,148 5.4 356,283 124,333 59,610 5,922 139,194 85,223 284,623 Oklahoma 2,921,755 2,775,957 145,798 5.0 93,913 31,449 17,887 2,549 64,562 23,066 69,262 Oregon 2,640,482 2,448,772 191,710 7.3 113,548 40,234 29,061 8,867 83,087 39,740 112,237 Pennsylvania 11,085,170 10,278,294 806,876 7.3 513,867 184,976 90,828 17,205 213,096 141,473 467,189 Rhode Island 936,423 776,931 159,492 17.0 93,565 34,376 23,612 7,939 35,492 36,909 113,267 South Carolina 3,231,539 3,118,376 113,163 3.5 75,406 23,614 13,164 979 44,427 10,190 37,578 South Dakota 641,226 599,232 41,994 6.5 29,491 8,614 3,773 116 5,033 5,681 19,525 Tennessee 4,544,743 4,413,193 131,550 2.9 86,026 27,125 17,203 1,196 49,661 15,771 48,531 Texas 15,605,822 11,635,518 3,970,304 25.4 2,204,581 953,668 570,117 241,938 3,443,106 988,458 3,066,329 Utah 1,553,351 1,432,947 120,404 7.8 79,579 25,043 13,582 2,200 51,945 17,875 59,540 Vermont 521,521 491,112 30,409 5.8 23,162 4,789 2,314 144 3,196 2,954 13,515 Virginia 5,746,419 5,327,898 418,521 7.3 257,292 92,008 56,415 12,806 152,663 78,452 243,000 Washington 4,501,879 4,098,706 403,173 9.0 237,966 87,786 60,325 17,096 143,647 89,268 239,724 West Virginia 1,686,932 1,642,729 44,203 2.6 30,609 8,241 5,097 256 13,337 3,845 14,960 Wisconsin 4,531,134 4,267,496 263,638 5.8 170,342 57,149 31,159 4,988 75,931 44,285 137,916 Wyoming 418,713 394,904 23,809 5.7 16,543 4,639 2,476 151 13,790 2,830 10,433 * 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