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 | 858,865 | 97.13% | 912,602 | 95.41% |
| Spanish | 9,208 | 1.04% | 19,516 | 2.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,008 | 1.24% | 14,899 | 1.56% |
| Asian Language** | 3,696 | 0.42% | 6,778 | 0.71% |
| Other | 1,480 | 0.17% | 2,720 | 0.28% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 884,257 | 100.00% | 956,515 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,466 | 43.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,979 | 33.42% |
| Asian Language** | 3,415 | 50.38% |
| Other Language | 1,015 | 37.32% |
| Total | 17,875 | 1.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,997 | 32.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,046 | 27.67% |
| Asian Language** | 1,883 | 50.95% |
| Other Language | 297 | 20.07% |
| Total | 8,223 | 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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