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 | 460,819 | 96.92% | 517,545 | 95.31% |
| Spanish | 6,111 | 1.29% | 13,697 | 2.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,147 | 1.08% | 6,342 | 1.17% |
| Asian Language** | 2,222 | 0.47% | 4,108 | 0.76% |
| Other | 1,182 | 0.25% | 1,302 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 475,481 | 100.00% | 542,994 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,903 | 43.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,449 | 22.85% |
| Asian Language** | 1,833 | 44.62% |
| Other Language | 396 | 30.41% |
| Total | 9,581 | 1.76% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,956 | 32.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,535 | 29.82% |
| Asian Language** | 1,003 | 45.14% |
| Other Language | 217 | 18.36% |
| Total | 4,711 | 0.99% |
* "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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