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 | 364,579 | 96.24% | 420,959 | 93.87% |
Spanish | 4,794 | 1.27% | 13,616 | 3.04% |
Other Indo-European* | 5,482 | 1.45% | 7,405 | 1.65% |
Asian Language** | 2,994 | 0.79% | 5,158 | 1.15% |
Other | 971 | 0.26% | 1,301 | 0.29% |
Total Population Age 5+ | 378,820 | 100.00% | 448,439 | 100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
Spanish | 6,946 | 51.01% |
Other Indo-European* | 1,861 | 25.13% |
Asian Language** | 2,934 | 56.88% |
Other Language | 299 | 22.98% |
Total | 12,040 | 2.68% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
Spanish | 1,924 | 40.13% |
Other Indo-European* | 1,311 | 23.91% |
Asian Language** | 1,604 | 53.57% |
Other Language | 426 | 43.87% |
Total | 5,265 | 1.39% |
* "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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