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San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, CA |
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LANGUAGE
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 | 178,749 | 87.88% | 200,112 | 85.33% |
| Spanish | 16,235 | 7.98% | 25,089 | 10.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,019 | 2.47% | 4,895 | 2.09% |
| Asian Language** | 2,867 | 1.41% | 4,022 | 1.71% |
| Other | 526 | 0.26% | 406 | 0.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 203,396 | 100.00% | 234,524 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,114 | 44.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 983 | 20.08% |
| Asian Language** | 1,741 | 43.29% |
| Other Language | 88 | 21.67% |
| Total | 13,926 | 5.94% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,222 | 44.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 997 | 19.86% |
| Asian Language** | 1,339 | 46.70% |
| Other Language | 230 | 43.73% |
| Total | 9,788 | 4.81% |
* "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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