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 | 533,379 | 97.10% | 621,285 | 96.14% |
| Spanish | 5,083 | 0.93% | 10,529 | 1.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,766 | 1.23% | 8,441 | 1.31% |
| Asian Language** | 2,974 | 0.54% | 4,525 | 0.70% |
| Other | 1,083 | 0.20% | 1,447 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 549,285 | 100.00% | 646,227 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,910 | 37.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,244 | 26.58% |
| Asian Language** | 2,168 | 47.91% |
| Other Language | 425 | 29.37% |
| Total | 8,747 | 1.35% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,780 | 35.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,781 | 26.32% |
| Asian Language** | 1,328 | 44.65% |
| Other Language | 210 | 19.39% |
| Total | 5,099 | 0.93% |
* "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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