Lackawanna 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 |
192,299 |
93.43% |
190,894 |
94.40% |
Spanish |
1,317 |
0.64% |
3,156 |
1.56% |
Other Indo-European* |
11,211 |
5.45% |
6,955 |
3.44% |
Asian Language** |
679 |
0.33% |
800 |
0.40% |
Other |
314 |
0.15% |
405 |
0.20% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
205,820 |
100.00% |
202,210 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
1,085 |
34.38% |
Other Indo-European* |
1,924 |
27.66% |
Asian Language** |
434 |
54.25% |
Other Language |
111 |
27.41% |
Total |
3,554 |
1.76% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
432 |
32.80% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,976 |
26.55% |
Asian Language** |
370 |
54.49% |
Other Language |
65 |
20.70% |
Total |
3,843 |
1.87% |
* "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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