Philadelphia, PA-NJ
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 |
4,116,508 |
90.18% |
4,187,688 |
87.74% |
Spanish |
151,521 |
3.32% |
224,517 |
4.70% |
Other Indo-European* |
212,889 |
4.66% |
218,025 |
4.57% |
Asian Language** |
66,750 |
1.46% |
115,231 |
2.41% |
Other |
17,191 |
0.38% |
27,267 |
0.57% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
4,564,859 |
100.00% |
4,772,728 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
91,315 |
40.67% |
Other Indo-European* |
74,798 |
34.31% |
Asian Language** |
62,543 |
54.28% |
Other Language |
7,970 |
29.23% |
Total |
236,626 |
4.96% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
63,641 |
42.00% |
Other Indo-European* |
69,375 |
32.59% |
Asian Language** |
36,335 |
54.43% |
Other Language |
4,970 |
28.91% |
Total |
174,321 |
3.82% |
* "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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