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 | 463,372 | 91.38% | 511,239 | 82.59% |
| Spanish | 15,894 | 3.13% | 52,481 | 8.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,446 | 2.65% | 24,476 | 3.95% |
| Asian Language** | 10,833 | 2.14% | 17,381 | 2.81% |
| Other | 3,541 | 0.70% | 13,441 | 2.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 507,086 | 100.00% | 619,018 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 35,694 | 68.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,469 | 38.69% |
| Asian Language** | 11,235 | 64.64% |
| Other Language | 5,420 | 40.32% |
| Total | 61,818 | 9.99% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,724 | 48.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,013 | 29.85% |
| Asian Language** | 6,175 | 57.00% |
| Other Language | 1,086 | 30.67% |
| Total | 18,998 | 3.75% |
* "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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