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 | 559,876 | 95.23% | 611,567 | 92.05% |
| Spanish | 9,508 | 1.62% | 31,144 | 4.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,709 | 2.33% | 12,263 | 1.85% |
| Asian Language** | 3,757 | 0.64% | 6,992 | 1.05% |
| Other | 1,061 | 0.18% | 2,396 | 0.36% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 587,911 | 100.00% | 664,362 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16,232 | 52.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,317 | 27.05% |
| Asian Language** | 3,312 | 47.37% |
| Other Language | 911 | 38.02% |
| Total | 23,772 | 3.58% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,365 | 35.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,600 | 26.26% |
| Asian Language** | 1,696 | 45.14% |
| Other Language | 263 | 24.79% |
| Total | 8,924 | 1.52% |
* "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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