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 | 258,043 | 84.86% | 262,336 | 79.84% |
| Spanish | 16,915 | 5.56% | 29,167 | 8.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,546 | 7.09% | 24,896 | 7.58% |
| Asian Language** | 4,979 | 1.64% | 8,960 | 2.73% |
| Other | 2,602 | 0.86% | 3,229 | 0.98% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 304,085 | 100.00% | 328,588 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,027 | 51.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,602 | 34.55% |
| Asian Language** | 3,362 | 37.52% |
| Other Language | 798 | 24.71% |
| Total | 27,789 | 8.46% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,188 | 48.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,710 | 31.14% |
| Asian Language** | 2,091 | 42.00% |
| Other Language | 587 | 22.56% |
| Total | 17,576 | 5.78% |
* "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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