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 | 1,728,391 | 88.91% | 1,915,032 | 84.75% |
| Spanish | 116,242 | 5.98% | 209,392 | 9.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 78,665 | 4.05% | 94,050 | 4.16% |
| Asian Language** | 14,864 | 0.76% | 30,661 | 1.36% |
| Other | 5,834 | 0.30% | 10,527 | 0.47% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,943,996 | 100.00% | 2,259,662 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 88,726 | 42.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 28,477 | 30.28% |
| Asian Language** | 15,641 | 51.01% |
| Other Language | 3,279 | 31.15% |
| Total | 136,123 | 6.02% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 45,365 | 39.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22,039 | 28.02% |
| Asian Language** | 7,254 | 48.80% |
| Other Language | 1,896 | 32.50% |
| Total | 76,554 | 3.94% |
* "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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