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 | 518,604 | 94.40% | 550,595 | 92.89% |
| Spanish | 8,510 | 1.55% | 17,406 | 2.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,694 | 3.22% | 16,977 | 2.86% |
| Asian Language** | 3,539 | 0.64% | 5,998 | 1.01% |
| Other | 1,010 | 0.18% | 1,783 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 549,357 | 100.00% | 592,759 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,869 | 39.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,416 | 31.90% |
| Asian Language** | 3,252 | 54.22% |
| Other Language | 636 | 35.67% |
| Total | 16,173 | 2.73% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,428 | 40.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,623 | 31.78% |
| Asian Language** | 2,031 | 57.39% |
| Other Language | 322 | 31.88% |
| Total | 11,404 | 2.08% |
* "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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