Mahoning 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 227,521 91.92% 225,310 93.00%
Spanish 4,802 1.94% 6,415 2.65%
Other Indo-European* 13,253 5.35% 8,719 3.60%
Asian Language** 561 0.23% 667 0.28%
Other 1,372 0.55% 1,156 0.48%
Total Population Age 5+ 247,509 100.00% 242,267 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 2,329 36.31%
Other Indo-European* 2,675 30.68%
Asian Language** 302 45.28%
Other Language 330 28.55%
Total 5,636 2.33%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,565 32.59%
Other Indo-European* 3,913 29.53%
Asian Language** 230 41.00%
Other Language 435 31.71%
Total 6,143 2.48%

* "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