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 | 635,261 | 93.54% | 562,065 | 92.24% |
| Spanish | 12,127 | 1.79% | 17,805 | 2.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 23,602 | 3.48% | 17,985 | 2.95% |
| Asian Language** | 5,041 | 0.74% | 6,543 | 1.07% |
| Other | 3,104 | 0.46% | 4,947 | 0.81% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 679,135 | 100.00% | 609,345 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,100 | 39.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,307 | 35.07% |
| Asian Language** | 3,522 | 53.83% |
| Other Language | 1,184 | 23.93% |
| Total | 18,113 | 2.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,503 | 37.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,781 | 32.97% |
| Asian Language** | 2,681 | 53.18% |
| Other Language | 651 | 20.97% |
| Total | 15,616 | 2.30% |
* "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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