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 | 429,628 | 92.49% | 498,821 | 88.71% |
| Spanish | 13,980 | 3.01% | 33,675 | 5.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,436 | 3.75% | 24,133 | 4.29% |
| Asian Language** | 1,939 | 0.42% | 3,504 | 0.62% |
| Other | 1,526 | 0.33% | 2,198 | 0.39% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 464,509 | 100.00% | 562,331 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16,551 | 49.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,588 | 31.44% |
| Asian Language** | 1,839 | 52.48% |
| Other Language | 671 | 30.53% |
| Total | 26,649 | 4.74% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,237 | 44.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,956 | 28.42% |
| Asian Language** | 1,027 | 52.97% |
| Other Language | 517 | 33.88% |
| Total | 12,737 | 2.74% |
* "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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