Harris 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 |
1,914,869 |
74.28% |
1,992,143 |
63.81% |
Spanish |
508,878 |
19.74% |
898,885 |
28.79% |
Other Indo-European* |
66,181 |
2.57% |
87,470 |
2.80% |
Asian Language** |
73,097 |
2.84% |
116,285 |
3.72% |
Other |
14,861 |
0.58% |
27,216 |
0.87% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
2,577,886 |
100.00% |
3,121,999 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
475,797 |
52.93% |
Other Indo-European* |
24,665 |
28.20% |
Asian Language** |
63,026 |
54.20% |
Other Language |
6,311 |
23.19% |
Total |
569,799 |
18.25% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
252,003 |
49.52% |
Other Indo-European* |
17,066 |
25.79% |
Asian Language** |
37,822 |
51.74% |
Other Language |
3,485 |
23.45% |
Total |
310,376 |
12.04% |
* "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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