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 | 266,090 | 86.50% | 297,781 | 82.93% |
| Spanish | 16,683 | 5.42% | 30,754 | 8.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,351 | 6.94% | 26,013 | 7.24% |
| Asian Language** | 2,080 | 0.68% | 2,956 | 0.82% |
| Other | 1,411 | 0.46% | 1,553 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 307,615 | 100.00% | 359,057 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,817 | 38.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,726 | 48.92% |
| Asian Language** | 1,252 | 42.35% |
| Other Language | 602 | 38.76% |
| Total | 26,397 | 7.35% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,918 | 41.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,313 | 38.93% |
| Asian Language** | 910 | 43.75% |
| Other Language | 447 | 31.68% |
| Total | 16,588 | 5.39% |
* "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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