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Lancaster, PA

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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 344,830 88.54% 380,622 86.88%
Spanish 12,792 3.28% 21,741 4.96%
Other Indo-European* 28,189 7.24% 30,267 6.91%
Asian Language** 3,412 0.88% 4,652 1.06%
Other 233 0.06% 808 0.18%
Total Population Age 5+ 389,456 100.00% 438,090 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 8,942 41.13%
Other Indo-European* 11,839 39.12%
Asian Language** 2,734 58.77%
Other Language 233 28.84%
Total 23,748 5.42%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 5,399 42.21%
Other Indo-European* 11,192 39.70%
Asian Language** 1,936 56.74%
Other Language 58 24.89%
Total 18,585 4.77%

* "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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