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 | 1,228,518 | 96.28% | 1,404,217 | 94.39% |
| Spanish | 17,506 | 1.37% | 43,289 | 2.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,862 | 1.71% | 24,236 | 1.63% |
| Asian Language** | 6,280 | 0.49% | 11,550 | 0.78% |
| Other | 1,779 | 0.14% | 4,441 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,275,945 | 100.00% | 1,487,733 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 21,040 | 48.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,960 | 28.72% |
| Asian Language** | 5,587 | 48.37% |
| Other Language | 1,166 | 26.26% |
| Total | 34,753 | 2.34% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,037 | 34.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,442 | 29.47% |
| Asian Language** | 2,839 | 45.21% |
| Other Language | 540 | 30.35% |
| Total | 15,858 | 1.24% |
* "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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