Table 2. Language Use and English Ability, Persons 5 to 17 Years, by State: 1990 Census Persons 5-17 Years Old ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 45,342,448 39,019,514 6,322,934 13.9 3,934,691 1,480,680 761,778 145,785 4,167,653 1,763,173 4,834,637 Alabama 779,216 756,094 23,122 3.0 15,005 4,913 3,060 144 11,366 2,122 5,421 Alaska 117,070 105,912 11,158 9.5 7,047 2,949 1,096 66 1,552 2,370 7,487 Arizona 688,361 531,579 156,782 22.8 95,713 38,896 18,715 3,458 113,768 38,436 126,784 Arkansas 457,208 443,621 13,587 3.0 9,283 2,328 1,923 53 7,427 1,582 3,432 California 5,363,005 3,484,048 1,878,957 35.0 1,082,052 466,896 255,816 74,193 1,350,598 681,504 1,621,098 Colorado 608,578 557,376 51,202 8.4 33,294 10,407 6,817 684 34,189 11,171 32,667 Connecticut 522,667 444,626 78,041 14.9 51,303 17,411 8,048 1,279 45,274 20,602 60,721 Delaware 114,559 107,156 7,403 6.5 4,638 1,690 982 93 4,006 1,265 4,007 D.C. 80,008 70,564 9,444 11.8 5,455 2,371 1,315 303 6,136 2,409 6,001 Florida 2,021,858 1,661,406 360,452 17.8 247,011 74,030 32,757 6,654 279,337 90,770 288,400 Georgia 1,236,622 1,180,646 55,976 4.5 36,142 11,830 7,226 778 27,123 9,836 24,841 Hawaii 198,205 168,605 29,600 14.9 18,347 7,895 3,234 124 1,654 9,359 20,280 Idaho 227,791 214,550 13,241 5.8 8,608 2,443 1,901 289 9,971 2,866 8,034 Illinois 2,103,057 1,800,970 302,087 14.4 200,056 62,009 33,428 6,594 194,776 82,239 238,226 Indiana 1,059,526 1,007,875 51,651 4.9 32,573 12,531 6,056 491 22,148 7,833 23,730 Iowa 526,115 505,375 20,740 3.9 13,365 4,411 2,792 172 9,242 2,798 6,793 Kansas 474,043 449,007 25,036 5.3 16,218 5,282 3,297 239 13,941 5,136 13,143 Kentucky 705,277 685,214 20,063 2.8 12,588 4,381 2,874 220 9,046 1,936 4,987 Louisiana 895,657 846,275 49,382 5.5 32,556 10,232 6,270 324 15,347 7,632 21,821 Maine 223,494 213,608 9,886 4.4 7,231 1,518 1,091 46 1,407 958 4,429 Maryland 806,039 738,135 67,904 8.4 46,025 13,475 7,597 807 26,173 13,665 41,444 Massachusetts 940,711 797,183 143,528 15.3 93,084 31,694 16,011 2,739 62,671 43,070 115,175 Michigan 1,761,163 1,665,200 95,963 5.4 68,148 16,904 10,132 779 33,087 15,108 50,969 Minnesota 831,671 789,508 42,163 5.1 25,150 9,687 6,468 858 11,275 9,835 20,311 Mississippi 552,960 536,366 16,594 3.0 10,408 4,155 1,958 73 7,175 2,055 4,935 Missouri 947,101 913,370 33,731 3.6 21,501 7,300 4,705 225 13,817 4,876 11,798 Montana 163,940 157,558 6,382 3.9 4,280 1,486 553 63 1,711 622 2,357 Nebraska 309,706 298,450 11,256 3.6 7,933 1,967 1,314 42 5,669 1,263 4,161 Nevada 203,376 179,321 24,055 11.8 15,102 5,411 2,847 695 17,057 7,305 17,481 New Hampshire 194,492 185,931 8,561 4.4 5,974 1,601 906 80 2,189 1,271 3,846 New Jersey 1,269,172 1,023,377 245,795 19.4 169,522 49,905 22,902 3,466 140,311 63,842 202,675 New Mexico 321,418 226,699 94,719 29.5 60,940 23,008 9,993 778 72,512 20,804 78,363 New York 3,008,894 2,308,106 700,788 23.3 452,840 158,693 75,993 13,262 415,623 191,623 573,348 North Carolina 1,152,157 1,097,775 54,382 4.7 32,598 12,003 9,336 445 31,276 5,680 15,090 North Dakota 127,720 124,264 3,456 2.7 2,562 637 251 6 1,220 313 938 Ohio 2,019,893 1,919,304 100,589 5.0 64,019 22,770 12,825 975 37,885 16,413 46,490 Oklahoma 613,015 584,664 28,351 4.6 18,878 5,431 3,778 264 16,088 5,176 14,091 Oregon 522,568 485,792 36,776 7.0 23,607 7,374 4,975 820 19,323 9,003 23,756 Pennsylvania 2,000,469 1,864,266 136,203 6.8 86,416 32,541 15,648 1,598 58,039 27,916 81,128 Rhode Island 158,964 132,994 25,970 16.3 17,042 5,497 2,916 515 9,730 7,967 20,861 South Carolina 666,884 643,538 23,346 3.5 15,278 5,170 2,837 61 11,401 1,978 5,629 South Dakota 144,167 138,318 5,849 4.1 3,919 1,170 709 51 1,449 902 2,462 Tennessee 883,214 854,520 28,694 3.2 18,992 5,435 4,112 155 13,206 3,242 8,405 Texas 3,454,664 2,480,382 974,282 28.2 582,401 261,195 113,449 17,237 892,384 273,500 828,503 Utah 458,429 432,995 25,434 5.5 17,006 5,055 3,151 222 11,795 3,947 12,571 Vermont 102,343 99,131 3,212 3.1 2,438 496 264 14 566 246 1,008 Virginia 1,063,388 988,754 74,634 7.0 50,966 15,195 7,621 852 31,551 14,680 43,624 Washington 893,647 815,380 78,267 8.8 48,190 17,286 11,158 1,633 35,674 22,232 52,518 West Virginia 337,661 328,532 9,129 2.7 6,314 1,567 1,227 21 3,878 494 1,558 Wisconsin 930,099 878,928 51,171 5.5 31,851 11,448 7,041 831 22,158 10,809 25,201 Wyoming 100,206 96,266 3,940 3.9 2,822 701 403 14 2,452 512 1,639 * 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