The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 1,854,768 | 90.73% | 1,901,333 | 90.41% |
| Spanish | 44,014 | 2.15% | 62,999 | 3.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 112,953 | 5.53% | 101,273 | 4.82% |
| Asian Language** | 12,324 | 0.60% | 17,798 | 0.85% |
| Other | 20,321 | 0.99% | 19,650 | 0.93% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,044,380 | 100.00% | 2,103,053 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 24,429 | 38.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 37,707 | 37.23% |
| Asian Language** | 8,440 | 47.42% |
| Other Language | 5,807 | 29.55% |
| Total | 76,383 | 3.63% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,276 | 39.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 40,438 | 35.80% |
| Asian Language** | 5,930 | 48.12% |
| Other Language | 6,383 | 31.41% |
| Total | 70,027 | 3.43% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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