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 | 599,232 | 93.45% | 658,245 | 93.52% |
| Spanish | 5,033 | 0.78% | 10,052 | 1.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24,230 | 3.78% | 19,510 | 2.77% |
| Asian Language** | 2,054 | 0.32% | 3,053 | 0.43% |
| Other | 10,677 | 1.67% | 12,960 | 1.84% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 641,226 | 100.00% | 703,820 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,999 | 39.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,699 | 39.46% |
| Asian Language** | 1,505 | 49.30% |
| Other Language | 3,173 | 24.48% |
| Total | 16,376 | 2.33% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,363 | 27.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,270 | 30.00% |
| Asian Language** | 938 | 45.67% |
| Other Language | 2,932 | 27.46% |
| Total | 12,503 | 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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