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 | 784,938 | 93.87% | 937,296 | 91.37% |
| Spanish | 21,410 | 2.56% | 39,893 | 3.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,306 | 2.07% | 25,222 | 2.46% |
| Asian Language** | 9,397 | 1.12% | 18,127 | 1.77% |
| Other | 3,179 | 0.38% | 5,237 | 0.51% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 836,230 | 100.00% | 1,025,775 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,187 | 30.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,082 | 32.04% |
| Asian Language** | 7,544 | 41.62% |
| Other Language | 1,544 | 29.48% |
| Total | 29,357 | 2.86% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,324 | 29.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,009 | 28.94% |
| Asian Language** | 3,469 | 36.92% |
| Other Language | 994 | 31.27% |
| Total | 15,796 | 1.89% |
* "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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