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 | 656,550 | 84.84% | 736,750 | 79.11% |
| Spanish | 87,545 | 11.31% | 149,070 | 16.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20,887 | 2.70% | 26,863 | 2.88% |
| Asian Language** | 6,655 | 0.86% | 14,418 | 1.55% |
| Other | 2,193 | 0.28% | 4,175 | 0.45% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 773,830 | 100.00% | 931,276 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 65,087 | 43.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,708 | 28.69% |
| Asian Language** | 7,138 | 49.51% |
| Other Language | 1,363 | 32.65% |
| Total | 81,296 | 8.73% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 35,702 | 40.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,023 | 24.05% |
| Asian Language** | 3,205 | 48.16% |
| Other Language | 637 | 29.05% |
| Total | 44,567 | 5.76% |
* "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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