Walla Walla County

LANGUAGE

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 40,107 88.77% 43,362 83.81%
Spanish 3,784 8.37% 6,947 13.43%
Other Indo-European* 891 1.97% 739 1.43%
Asian Language** 338 0.75% 488 0.94%
Other 63 0.14% 205 0.40%
Total Population Age 5+ 45,183 100.00% 51,741 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 3,582 51.56%
Other Indo-European* 171 23.14%
Asian Language** 196 40.16%
Other Language 78 38.05%
Total 4,027 7.78%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,966 51.96%
Other Indo-European* 177 19.87%
Asian Language** 205 60.65%
Other Language 0 -
Total 2,348 5.20%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy