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 | 739,078 | 91.52% | 771,726 | 88.04% |
| Spanish | 18,910 | 2.34% | 39,287 | 4.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 39,815 | 4.93% | 47,550 | 5.42% |
| Asian Language** | 7,237 | 0.90% | 13,570 | 1.55% |
| Other | 2,496 | 0.31% | 4,455 | 0.51% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 807,536 | 100.00% | 876,588 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,649 | 39.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,886 | 31.31% |
| Asian Language** | 7,573 | 55.81% |
| Other Language | 1,245 | 27.95% |
| Total | 39,353 | 4.49% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,216 | 32.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,909 | 29.91% |
| Asian Language** | 3,695 | 51.06% |
| Other Language | 795 | 31.85% |
| Total | 22,615 | 2.80% |
* "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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