Houston, TX
LANGUAGE
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 |
2,305,271 |
75.86% |
2,556,609 |
66.56% |
Spanish |
557,933 |
18.36% |
1,001,875 |
26.08% |
Other Indo-European* |
76,682 |
2.52% |
109,888 |
2.86% |
Asian Language** |
82,731 |
2.72% |
140,838 |
3.67% |
Other |
16,092 |
0.53% |
31,780 |
0.83% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
3,038,709 |
100.00% |
3,840,990 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
520,969 |
52.00% |
Other Indo-European* |
29,894 |
27.20% |
Asian Language** |
72,910 |
51.77% |
Other Language |
7,178 |
22.59% |
Total |
630,951 |
16.43% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
272,288 |
48.80% |
Other Indo-European* |
19,771 |
25.78% |
Asian Language** |
42,181 |
50.99% |
Other Language |
3,718 |
23.10% |
Total |
337,958 |
11.12% |
* "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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