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 | 1,185,177 | 95.19% | 1,325,164 | 92.65% |
| Spanish | 14,517 | 1.17% | 32,967 | 2.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27,895 | 2.24% | 33,945 | 2.37% |
| Asian Language** | 14,076 | 1.13% | 24,999 | 1.75% |
| Other | 3,428 | 0.28% | 13,258 | 0.93% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,245,093 | 100.00% | 1,430,333 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 13,585 | 41.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,540 | 28.10% |
| Asian Language** | 12,579 | 50.32% |
| Other Language | 5,960 | 44.95% |
| Total | 41,664 | 2.91% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,840 | 33.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,714 | 27.65% |
| Asian Language** | 7,727 | 54.89% |
| Other Language | 918 | 26.78% |
| Total | 21,199 | 1.70% |
* "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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