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 | 259,879 | 90.52% | 334,295 | 81.41% |
| Spanish | 10,453 | 3.64% | 39,174 | 9.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,434 | 2.59% | 13,534 | 3.30% |
| Asian Language** | 8,262 | 2.88% | 21,498 | 5.24% |
| Other | 1,053 | 0.37% | 2,140 | 0.52% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 287,081 | 100.00% | 410,641 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 22,788 | 58.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,743 | 27.66% |
| Asian Language** | 10,498 | 48.83% |
| Other Language | 619 | 28.93% |
| Total | 37,648 | 9.17% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,821 | 46.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,946 | 26.18% |
| Asian Language** | 4,130 | 49.99% |
| Other Language | 374 | 35.52% |
| Total | 11,271 | 3.93% |
* "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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