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 | 899,838 | 91.63% | 930,202 | 90.35% |
| Spanish | 26,897 | 2.74% | 39,312 | 3.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44,784 | 4.56% | 42,355 | 4.11% |
| Asian Language** | 8,337 | 0.85% | 13,781 | 1.34% |
| Other | 2,162 | 0.22% | 3,959 | 0.38% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 982,018 | 100.00% | 1,029,609 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 14,826 | 37.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,247 | 33.64% |
| Asian Language** | 6,875 | 49.89% |
| Other Language | 1,358 | 34.30% |
| Total | 37,306 | 3.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,710 | 39.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,814 | 30.85% |
| Asian Language** | 3,929 | 47.13% |
| Other Language | 647 | 29.93% |
| Total | 29,100 | 2.96% |
* "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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