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 | 498,936 | 87.49% | 449,241 | 83.25% |
| Spanish | 35,021 | 6.14% | 49,461 | 9.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22,324 | 3.91% | 23,721 | 4.40% |
| Asian Language** | 6,978 | 1.22% | 8,974 | 1.66% |
| Other | 7,025 | 1.23% | 8,261 | 1.53% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 570,284 | 100.00% | 539,658 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 25,355 | 51.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,815 | 24.51% |
| Asian Language** | 4,508 | 50.23% |
| Other Language | 2,558 | 30.96% |
| Total | 38,236 | 7.09% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 18,725 | 53.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,194 | 23.27% |
| Asian Language** | 3,229 | 46.27% |
| Other Language | 1,980 | 28.19% |
| Total | 29,128 | 5.11% |
* "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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