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 | 453,782 | 73.73% | 467,351 | 67.02% |
| Spanish | 123,603 | 20.08% | 182,412 | 26.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,726 | 2.72% | 18,358 | 2.63% |
| Asian Language** | 18,930 | 3.08% | 25,412 | 3.64% |
| Other | 2,438 | 0.40% | 3,834 | 0.55% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 615,479 | 100.00% | 697,367 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 95,504 | 52.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,390 | 23.91% |
| Asian Language** | 11,353 | 44.68% |
| Other Language | 1,219 | 31.79% |
| Total | 112,466 | 16.13% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 64,995 | 52.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,034 | 24.12% |
| Asian Language** | 8,646 | 45.67% |
| Other Language | 709 | 29.08% |
| Total | 78,384 | 12.74% |
* "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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