Census Trend Charts Demographic Maps Rankings & Comparisons Segregation Data  

Zoom in and out of geography at levels: US, States or Metro Areas, and Counties within States.

You can zoom out to Illinois


Visit the SSDAN Web Site
CensusScope is a product of the Social Science Data Analysis Network.

Will County

Print-Friendly Version

LANGUAGE

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 299,510 91.31% 405,351 88.03%
Spanish 14,199 4.33% 32,352 7.03%
Other Indo-European* 11,233 3.42% 14,577 3.17%
Asian Language** 2,467 0.75% 6,456 1.40%
Other 588 0.18% 1,729 0.38%
Total Population Age 5+ 327,997 100.00% 460,465 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 14,773 45.66%
Other Indo-European* 3,830 26.27%
Asian Language** 2,171 33.63%
Other Language 352 20.36%
Total 21,126 4.59%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 5,855 41.24%
Other Indo-European* 2,840 25.28%
Asian Language** 827 33.52%
Other Language 129 21.94%
Total 9,651 2.94%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy