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 | 312,143 | 96.57% | 317,025 | 94.47% |
| Spanish | 4,426 | 1.37% | 9,681 | 2.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,823 | 1.18% | 4,685 | 1.40% |
| Asian Language** | 1,764 | 0.55% | 3,186 | 0.95% |
| Other | 1,064 | 0.33% | 989 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 323,220 | 100.00% | 335,566 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,281 | 44.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,171 | 24.99% |
| Asian Language** | 1,456 | 45.70% |
| Other Language | 304 | 30.74% |
| Total | 7,212 | 2.15% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,444 | 32.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,100 | 28.77% |
| Asian Language** | 824 | 46.71% |
| Other Language | 194 | 18.23% |
| Total | 3,562 | 1.10% |
* "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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