Wayne County

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 65,532 97.51% 64,057 95.99%
Spanish 858 1.28% 1,285 1.93%
Other Indo-European* 652 0.97% 900 1.35%
Asian Language** 78 0.12% 367 0.55%
Other 86 0.13% 126 0.19%
Total Population Age 5+ 67,206 100.00% 66,735 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 632 49.18%
Other Indo-European* 260 28.89%
Asian Language** 120 32.70%
Other Language 34 26.98%
Total 1,046 1.57%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 312 36.36%
Other Indo-European* 248 38.04%
Asian Language** 38 48.72%
Other Language 24 27.91%
Total 622 0.93%

* "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