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 | 271,371 | 52.52% | 250,459 | 43.86% |
| Spanish | 164,064 | 31.75% | 214,949 | 37.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 54,445 | 10.54% | 61,891 | 10.84% |
| Asian Language** | 19,494 | 3.77% | 29,308 | 5.13% |
| Other | 7,364 | 1.43% | 14,488 | 2.54% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 516,738 | 100.00% | 571,095 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 115,735 | 53.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 25,702 | 41.53% |
| Asian Language** | 11,785 | 40.21% |
| Other Language | 5,850 | 40.38% |
| Total | 159,072 | 27.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 90,351 | 55.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22,617 | 41.54% |
| Asian Language** | 8,907 | 45.69% |
| Other Language | 3,060 | 41.55% |
| Total | 124,935 | 24.18% |
* "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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