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 | 388,536 | 93.86% | 481,572 | 85.30% |
| Spanish | 9,652 | 2.33% | 44,531 | 7.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,057 | 2.19% | 20,749 | 3.68% |
| Asian Language** | 4,952 | 1.20% | 11,863 | 2.10% |
| Other | 1,758 | 0.42% | 5,859 | 1.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 413,955 | 100.00% | 564,574 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 25,833 | 58.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,510 | 31.38% |
| Asian Language** | 5,790 | 48.81% |
| Other Language | 1,388 | 23.69% |
| Total | 39,521 | 7.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,335 | 34.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,151 | 23.75% |
| Asian Language** | 2,972 | 60.02% |
| Other Language | 297 | 16.89% |
| Total | 8,755 | 2.11% |
* "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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