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 | 430,720 | 94.24% | 476,293 | 89.83% |
| Spanish | 10,725 | 2.35% | 31,787 | 6.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,636 | 2.55% | 12,380 | 2.33% |
| Asian Language** | 3,067 | 0.67% | 7,220 | 1.36% |
| Other | 891 | 0.19% | 2,539 | 0.48% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 457,039 | 100.00% | 530,219 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16,415 | 51.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,208 | 33.99% |
| Asian Language** | 4,366 | 60.47% |
| Other Language | 955 | 37.61% |
| Total | 25,944 | 4.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,539 | 42.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,287 | 28.25% |
| Asian Language** | 1,658 | 54.06% |
| Other Language | 275 | 30.86% |
| Total | 9,759 | 2.14% |
* "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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