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 | 767,314 | 95.47% | 866,658 | 92.98% |
| Spanish | 11,613 | 1.44% | 26,949 | 2.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,555 | 1.94% | 21,153 | 2.27% |
| Asian Language** | 7,620 | 0.95% | 13,332 | 1.43% |
| Other | 1,631 | 0.20% | 3,982 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 803,733 | 100.00% | 932,074 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,246 | 41.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,000 | 28.36% |
| Asian Language** | 6,957 | 52.18% |
| Other Language | 1,119 | 28.10% |
| Total | 25,322 | 2.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,591 | 30.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,916 | 25.18% |
| Asian Language** | 4,056 | 53.23% |
| Other Language | 385 | 23.61% |
| Total | 11,948 | 1.49% |
* "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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