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 | 810,852 | 94.49% | 920,134 | 91.35% |
| Spanish | 21,250 | 2.48% | 52,906 | 5.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,402 | 2.26% | 19,143 | 1.90% |
| Asian Language** | 5,118 | 0.60% | 11,600 | 1.15% |
| Other | 1,474 | 0.17% | 3,477 | 0.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 858,096 | 100.00% | 1,007,260 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 25,168 | 47.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,702 | 29.79% |
| Asian Language** | 6,709 | 57.84% |
| Other Language | 1,173 | 33.74% |
| Total | 38,752 | 3.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,415 | 39.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,558 | 28.65% |
| Asian Language** | 2,905 | 56.76% |
| Other Language | 371 | 25.17% |
| Total | 17,249 | 2.01% |
* "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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