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 | 400,918 | 95.11% | 469,250 | 93.47% |
| Spanish | 8,165 | 1.94% | 16,281 | 3.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,436 | 2.00% | 9,916 | 1.98% |
| Asian Language** | 2,877 | 0.68% | 5,564 | 1.11% |
| Other | 1,144 | 0.27% | 996 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 421,540 | 100.00% | 502,007 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,126 | 43.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,477 | 24.98% |
| Asian Language** | 2,730 | 49.07% |
| Other Language | 282 | 28.31% |
| Total | 12,615 | 2.51% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,847 | 34.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,252 | 26.70% |
| Asian Language** | 1,430 | 49.70% |
| Other Language | 384 | 33.57% |
| Total | 6,913 | 1.64% |
* "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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