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 | 319,390 | 91.37% | 376,145 | 89.23% |
| Spanish | 13,849 | 3.96% | 26,190 | 6.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,848 | 3.96% | 14,924 | 3.54% |
| Asian Language** | 1,326 | 0.38% | 2,529 | 0.60% |
| Other | 1,145 | 0.33% | 1,765 | 0.42% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 349,558 | 100.00% | 421,553 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,915 | 41.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,075 | 27.31% |
| Asian Language** | 1,243 | 49.15% |
| Other Language | 570 | 32.29% |
| Total | 16,803 | 3.99% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,666 | 48.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,958 | 28.58% |
| Asian Language** | 495 | 37.33% |
| Other Language | 270 | 23.58% |
| Total | 11,389 | 3.26% |
* "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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