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 | 491,112 | 94.17% | 540,767 | 94.07% |
| Spanish | 3,196 | 0.61% | 5,791 | 1.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24,793 | 4.75% | 24,334 | 4.23% |
| Asian Language** | 1,586 | 0.30% | 3,015 | 0.52% |
| Other | 834 | 0.16% | 935 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 521,521 | 100.00% | 574,842 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,407 | 24.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,211 | 25.52% |
| Asian Language** | 1,521 | 50.45% |
| Other Language | 166 | 17.75% |
| Total | 9,305 | 1.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 757 | 23.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,619 | 22.66% |
| Asian Language** | 743 | 46.85% |
| Other Language | 128 | 15.35% |
| Total | 7,247 | 1.39% |
* "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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