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 | 877,854 | 73.33% | 823,371 | 64.22% |
| Spanish | 126,543 | 10.57% | 207,014 | 16.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 131,802 | 11.01% | 146,297 | 11.41% |
| Asian Language** | 44,279 | 3.70% | 79,753 | 6.22% |
| Other | 16,636 | 1.39% | 25,763 | 2.01% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,197,114 | 100.00% | 1,282,198 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 103,862 | 50.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 57,001 | 38.96% |
| Asian Language** | 40,887 | 51.27% |
| Other Language | 7,903 | 30.68% |
| Total | 209,653 | 16.35% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 64,378 | 50.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 48,199 | 36.57% |
| Asian Language** | 24,771 | 55.94% |
| Other Language | 5,698 | 34.25% |
| Total | 143,046 | 11.95% |
* "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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