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 | 935,825 | 91.33% | 1,064,252 | 91.72% |
| Spanish | 9,619 | 0.94% | 18,647 | 1.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 71,637 | 6.99% | 64,067 | 5.52% |
| Asian Language** | 5,140 | 0.50% | 9,891 | 0.85% |
| Other | 2,400 | 0.23% | 3,483 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,024,621 | 100.00% | 1,160,340 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,907 | 37.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,607 | 24.36% |
| Asian Language** | 4,618 | 46.69% |
| Other Language | 941 | 27.02% |
| Total | 28,073 | 2.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,388 | 35.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,194 | 25.40% |
| Asian Language** | 2,573 | 50.06% |
| Other Language | 655 | 27.29% |
| Total | 24,810 | 2.42% |
* "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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