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 | 289,746 | 91.87% | 361,208 | 86.46% |
| Spanish | 13,051 | 4.14% | 36,086 | 8.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10,766 | 3.41% | 17,177 | 4.11% |
| Asian Language** | 1,094 | 0.35% | 2,114 | 0.51% |
| Other | 731 | 0.23% | 1,198 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 315,388 | 100.00% | 417,783 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,377 | 48.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,822 | 33.89% |
| Asian Language** | 886 | 41.91% |
| Other Language | 339 | 28.30% |
| Total | 24,424 | 5.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,163 | 39.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,146 | 29.22% |
| Asian Language** | 439 | 40.13% |
| Other Language | 172 | 23.53% |
| Total | 8,920 | 2.83% |
* "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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