Hampden 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 343,245 81.21% 331,641 77.75%
Spanish 36,320 8.59% 55,218 12.95%
Other Indo-European* 39,509 9.35% 33,483 7.85%
Asian Language** 2,443 0.58% 4,517 1.06%
Other 1,135 0.27% 1,699 0.40%
Total Population Age 5+ 422,652 100.00% 426,558 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 23,693 42.91%
Other Indo-European* 13,241 39.55%
Asian Language** 2,550 56.45%
Other Language 459 27.02%
Total 39,943 9.36%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 17,773 48.93%
Other Indo-European* 13,045 33.02%
Asian Language** 1,493 61.11%
Other Language 244 21.50%
Total 32,555 7.70%

* "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