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Spoke a language other than English at home
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Spoke English with difficulty1
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| Year |
Total population
(in millions) |
Number (in millions) |
Percent of total population |
Number
(in millions) |
Percent of total population |
Percent of those
who spoke a language
other than
English at home |
|
| 1979 |
44.7 |
3.8 |
8.5 |
1.3 |
2.8 |
34.2 |
| 1989 |
42.3 |
5.2 |
12.3 |
1.8 |
4.3 |
34.6 |
| 1992 |
47.7 |
6.3 |
13.2 |
2.2 |
4.6 |
34.9 |
| 1995 |
47.5 |
6.7 |
14.1 |
2.4 |
5.2 |
35.8 |
| 1999 |
52.7 |
8.8 |
16.7 |
2.6 |
5.0 |
29.5 |
| 2000 |
52.5 |
9.5 |
18.1 |
2.9 |
5.5 |
30.5 |
| 2001 |
53.0 |
9.8 |
18.5 |
2.8 |
5.4 |
28.6 |
| 2002 |
53.0 |
9.8 |
18.5 |
2.8 |
5.3 |
28.6 |
| 2003 |
53.0 |
9.9 |
18.7 |
2.9 |
5.5 |
29.4 |
| 2004 |
52.9 |
9.9 |
18.8 |
2.8 |
5.3 |
27.9 |
| 2005 |
52.8 |
10.6 |
20.0 |
2.8 |
5.4 |
26.8 |
| 2006 |
53.4 |
10.8 |
20.3 |
2.8 |
5.2 |
25.4 |
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| Percentage change compared with 1979 |
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| 2006 |
19.5 |
185.4 |
138.9 |
112.2 |
84.4 |
-25.7 |
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| Percentage change compared with 2000 |
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| 2006 |
1.8 |
14.2 |
12.2 |
-4.9 |
-6.1 |
-16.7 |
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1 Data on language spoken at home and difficulty speaking English were obtained from household respondents. Respondents were asked if each child in the household spoke a language other than English at home. If they answered “yes,” they were asked how well each child could speak English. Categories used for reporting were “very well,” “well,” “not well,” and “not at all.” All those who reported speaking English less than “very well” were considered to have difficulty speaking English. Since the American Community Survey (ACS) does not ask whether household children speak English at home, these data cannot be used to determine whether English or another language is the primary language spoken at home.
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NOTE: Spanish-language versions of both the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) were available to respondents. Due to differences between the CPS and the ACS, use caution when comparing data before 2000 (CPS) with data from 2000 onward (ACS). See supplemental notes 2 and 3 for more information.
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SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), 1979 and 1989 November Supplement and 1992, 1995, and 1999 October Supplement, and American Community Survey (ACS), 2000–06.
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