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 | 640,253 | 85.62% | 635,369 | 82.33% |
| Spanish | 39,373 | 5.27% | 67,314 | 8.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 59,793 | 8.00% | 53,102 | 6.88% |
| Asian Language** | 5,569 | 0.74% | 11,523 | 1.49% |
| Other | 2,774 | 0.37% | 4,450 | 0.58% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 747,762 | 100.00% | 771,758 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 28,831 | 42.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,448 | 34.74% |
| Asian Language** | 5,089 | 44.16% |
| Other Language | 1,351 | 30.36% |
| Total | 53,719 | 6.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 18,296 | 46.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,191 | 32.10% |
| Asian Language** | 2,140 | 38.43% |
| Other Language | 769 | 27.72% |
| Total | 40,396 | 5.40% |
* "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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