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 | 1,268,931 | 83.55% | 1,258,786 | 79.12% |
| Spanish | 95,009 | 6.26% | 157,650 | 9.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 130,987 | 8.63% | 136,175 | 8.56% |
| Asian Language** | 14,544 | 0.96% | 28,065 | 1.76% |
| Other | 9,212 | 0.61% | 10,333 | 0.65% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,518,683 | 100.00% | 1,591,009 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 72,799 | 46.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 50,289 | 36.93% |
| Asian Language** | 13,058 | 46.53% |
| Other Language | 3,007 | 29.10% |
| Total | 139,153 | 8.75% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 44,375 | 46.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44,742 | 34.16% |
| Asian Language** | 6,808 | 46.81% |
| Other Language | 2,891 | 31.38% |
| Total | 98,816 | 6.51% |
* "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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