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 | 820,668 | 89.31% | 915,390 | 87.00% |
| Spanish | 26,727 | 2.91% | 50,195 | 4.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 55,074 | 5.99% | 60,537 | 5.75% |
| Asian Language** | 10,866 | 1.18% | 18,801 | 1.79% |
| Other | 5,523 | 0.60% | 7,206 | 0.68% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 918,858 | 100.00% | 1,052,129 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 22,276 | 44.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,966 | 29.68% |
| Asian Language** | 7,134 | 37.94% |
| Other Language | 1,669 | 23.16% |
| Total | 49,045 | 4.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,682 | 36.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,902 | 30.69% |
| Asian Language** | 4,474 | 41.17% |
| Other Language | 1,512 | 27.38% |
| Total | 32,570 | 3.54% |
* "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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