Howard Beach as a zip code is home to mainly English and Italian speakers. Second only to English, Italian is the language spoken by approximately 11% of Howard Beach's population, according to the 2000 census. This number is only slightly greater than in 1990, when the Italian speaking population comprised 9% of Howard Beach's population. Approximately 2% of New York's Italian-speaking population reside in Howard Beach.

To the left, a graph appears that tells us not only about what the demographic makeup of Howard Beach was like 20 years ago, but also indicates what languages citizens spoke. We may note that while English was logically the primary language at 79%, in 1990, Italian was the second predominant language (at 9%)  in Howard Beach with Spanish coming up short of second with only a 3% difference.   

 To the left, virtually the same graph appears as the one before it, only this one is more recent and tells us about what the demographic makeup of Howard Beach was like only 10 years ago. This graph indicates that English remains the primary language although it has become less popular as it is now spoken by 75% of Howard Beach citizens as opposed to the 79% of Howard Beach residents who spoke it 10 years ago. Italian remains the second predominant language (at 11%)  in Howard Beach with Spanish consistently coming up short of second with only a 3% difference.

 Once more to the left, our last graph that appears is unlike the other two because this one represents the languages spoken throughout the entire New York City area- not just Howard Beach. Looking at this graph, we may note that English remains the primary language at 52% while Spanish conquers Italian as New York's  second language. We may see here that on a larger scale, the Italian language is not as popular as we might have thought had we only viewed the above two charts.  Surprisingly, within New York City as a whole, only 2% of its residents are completely familiar with the Italian language.