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 | 628,678 | 81.55% | 623,417 | 76.10% |
| Spanish | 55,636 | 7.22% | 90,336 | 11.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 71,194 | 9.23% | 83,073 | 10.14% |
| Asian Language** | 8,975 | 1.16% | 16,542 | 2.02% |
| Other | 6,438 | 0.84% | 5,883 | 0.72% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 770,921 | 100.00% | 819,251 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 43,968 | 48.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31,841 | 38.33% |
| Asian Language** | 7,969 | 48.17% |
| Other Language | 1,656 | 28.15% |
| Total | 85,434 | 10.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 26,079 | 46.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 25,551 | 35.89% |
| Asian Language** | 4,668 | 52.01% |
| Other Language | 2,122 | 32.96% |
| Total | 58,420 | 7.58% |
* "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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