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 | 329,770 | 92.07% | 354,311 | 89.72% |
| Spanish | 8,642 | 2.41% | 15,105 | 3.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,823 | 2.46% | 9,987 | 2.53% |
| Asian Language** | 10,302 | 2.88% | 14,174 | 3.59% |
| Other | 617 | 0.17% | 1,315 | 0.33% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 358,154 | 100.00% | 394,892 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,460 | 29.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,718 | 27.22% |
| Asian Language** | 5,524 | 38.97% |
| Other Language | 291 | 22.13% |
| Total | 12,993 | 3.29% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,330 | 26.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,911 | 21.66% |
| Asian Language** | 3,931 | 38.16% |
| Other Language | 169 | 27.39% |
| Total | 8,341 | 2.33% |
* "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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