Macon, GA

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 260,133 96.86% 285,210 95.18%
Spanish 3,680 1.37% 7,468 2.49%
Other Indo-European* 3,267 1.22% 3,413 1.14%
Asian Language** 1,317 0.49% 3,011 1.00%
Other 182 0.07% 560 0.19%
Total Population Age 5+ 268,579 100.00% 299,662 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 3,195 42.78%
Other Indo-European* 954 27.95%
Asian Language** 1,282 42.58%
Other Language 165 29.46%
Total 5,596 1.87%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,290 35.05%
Other Indo-European* 807 24.70%
Asian Language** 631 47.91%
Other Language 9 4.95%
Total 2,737 1.02%

* "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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