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 | 586,770 | 96.74% | 590,312 | 95.37% |
| Spanish | 6,437 | 1.06% | 14,727 | 2.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,396 | 1.55% | 7,936 | 1.28% |
| Asian Language** | 2,396 | 0.40% | 3,834 | 0.62% |
| Other | 1,544 | 0.25% | 2,186 | 0.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 606,543 | 100.00% | 618,995 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,704 | 45.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,078 | 26.18% |
| Asian Language** | 1,779 | 46.40% |
| Other Language | 406 | 18.57% |
| Total | 10,967 | 1.77% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,893 | 29.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,739 | 29.15% |
| Asian Language** | 1,053 | 43.95% |
| Other Language | 501 | 32.45% |
| Total | 6,186 | 1.02% |
* "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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