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 | 552,803 | 94.47% | 562,686 | 92.36% |
| Spanish | 15,719 | 2.69% | 26,780 | 4.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,567 | 1.98% | 10,240 | 1.68% |
| Asian Language** | 4,105 | 0.70% | 6,884 | 1.13% |
| Other | 984 | 0.17% | 2,622 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 585,178 | 100.00% | 609,212 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 13,079 | 48.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,105 | 30.32% |
| Asian Language** | 3,671 | 53.33% |
| Other Language | 1,067 | 40.69% |
| Total | 20,922 | 3.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,551 | 41.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,609 | 31.20% |
| Asian Language** | 2,007 | 48.89% |
| Other Language | 309 | 31.40% |
| Total | 12,476 | 2.13% |
* "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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