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 | 1,432,947 | 92.25% | 1,770,626 | 87.49% |
| Spanish | 51,945 | 3.34% | 150,244 | 7.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 34,088 | 2.19% | 49,865 | 2.46% |
| Asian Language** | 22,346 | 1.44% | 37,805 | 1.87% |
| Other | 12,025 | 0.77% | 15,335 | 0.76% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,553,351 | 100.00% | 2,023,875 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 71,405 | 47.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,156 | 26.38% |
| Asian Language** | 16,310 | 43.14% |
| Other Language | 4,820 | 31.43% |
| Total | 105,691 | 5.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,037 | 32.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,018 | 26.46% |
| Asian Language** | 10,274 | 45.98% |
| Other Language | 4,496 | 37.39% |
| Total | 40,825 | 2.63% |
* "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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