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 | 592,086 | 89.78% | 605,172 | 87.86% |
| Spanish | 21,193 | 3.21% | 31,950 | 4.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36,832 | 5.58% | 35,531 | 5.16% |
| Asian Language** | 7,507 | 1.14% | 12,504 | 1.82% |
| Other | 1,887 | 0.29% | 3,647 | 0.53% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 659,505 | 100.00% | 688,804 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,936 | 37.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,480 | 35.12% |
| Asian Language** | 6,361 | 50.87% |
| Other Language | 1,286 | 35.26% |
| Total | 32,063 | 4.65% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,557 | 40.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,900 | 32.31% |
| Asian Language** | 3,552 | 47.32% |
| Other Language | 533 | 28.25% |
| Total | 24,542 | 3.72% |
* "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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