Marion 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 57,774 97.09% 60,393 96.94%
Spanish 672 1.13% 1,029 1.65%
Other Indo-European* 789 1.33% 605 0.97%
Asian Language** 156 0.26% 175 0.28%
Other 112 0.19% 95 0.15%
Total Population Age 5+ 59,503 100.00% 62,297 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 371 36.05%
Other Indo-European* 163 26.94%
Asian Language** 100 57.14%
Other Language 37 38.95%
Total 671 1.08%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 257 38.24%
Other Indo-European* 162 20.53%
Asian Language** 47 30.13%
Other Language 28 25.00%
Total 494 0.83%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy