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 | 1,216,966 | 92.02% | 1,252,923 | 89.65% |
| Spanish | 37,288 | 2.82% | 73,627 | 5.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53,707 | 4.06% | 46,534 | 3.33% |
| Asian Language** | 11,050 | 0.84% | 19,386 | 1.39% |
| Other | 3,544 | 0.27% | 5,058 | 0.36% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,322,555 | 100.00% | 1,397,528 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 34,421 | 46.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,561 | 31.29% |
| Asian Language** | 9,521 | 49.11% |
| Other Language | 1,285 | 25.41% |
| Total | 59,788 | 4.28% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 14,837 | 39.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,790 | 29.40% |
| Asian Language** | 6,478 | 58.62% |
| Other Language | 1,070 | 30.19% |
| Total | 38,175 | 2.89% |
* "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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