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 | 596,537 | 88.51% | 625,419 | 84.08% |
| Spanish | 29,904 | 4.44% | 56,436 | 7.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22,646 | 3.36% | 24,753 | 3.33% |
| Asian Language** | 16,989 | 2.52% | 20,463 | 2.75% |
| Other | 7,927 | 1.18% | 16,780 | 2.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 674,003 | 100.00% | 743,851 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 32,775 | 58.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,485 | 30.24% |
| Asian Language** | 9,556 | 46.70% |
| Other Language | 3,927 | 23.40% |
| Total | 53,743 | 7.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 14,737 | 49.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,391 | 28.22% |
| Asian Language** | 7,896 | 46.48% |
| Other Language | 2,067 | 26.08% |
| Total | 31,091 | 4.61% |
* "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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