Wake County
LANGUAGE
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 |
371,089 |
94.29% |
511,976 |
87.82% |
Spanish |
6,664 |
1.69% |
33,840 |
5.80% |
Other Indo-European* |
8,447 |
2.15% |
18,517 |
3.18% |
Asian Language** |
5,251 |
1.33% |
12,521 |
2.15% |
Other |
2,108 |
0.54% |
6,124 |
1.05% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
393,559 |
100.00% |
582,978 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
20,542 |
60.70% |
Other Indo-European* |
4,531 |
24.47% |
Asian Language** |
5,697 |
45.50% |
Other Language |
1,697 |
27.71% |
Total |
32,467 |
5.57% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
2,177 |
32.67% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,132 |
25.24% |
Asian Language** |
2,778 |
52.90% |
Other Language |
574 |
27.23% |
Total |
7,661 |
1.95% |
* "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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