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 | 575,343 | 52.20% | 578,996 | 47.26% |
| Spanish | 428,376 | 38.86% | 534,660 | 43.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 69,063 | 6.27% | 66,534 | 5.43% |
| Asian Language** | 19,136 | 1.74% | 19,531 | 1.59% |
| Other | 10,335 | 0.94% | 25,371 | 2.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,102,253 | 100.00% | 1,225,092 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 260,302 | 48.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 28,842 | 43.35% |
| Asian Language** | 10,876 | 55.69% |
| Other Language | 9,009 | 35.51% |
| Total | 309,029 | 25.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 208,991 | 48.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27,478 | 39.79% |
| Asian Language** | 12,229 | 63.91% |
| Other Language | 3,055 | 29.56% |
| Total | 251,753 | 22.84% |
* "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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