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 | 345,556 | 92.68% | 412,102 | 91.26% |
| Spanish | 11,204 | 3.01% | 18,320 | 4.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,951 | 3.21% | 14,656 | 3.25% |
| Asian Language** | 2,885 | 0.77% | 4,689 | 1.04% |
| Other | 1,249 | 0.33% | 1,786 | 0.40% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 372,845 | 100.00% | 451,553 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,872 | 32.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,358 | 22.91% |
| Asian Language** | 2,070 | 44.15% |
| Other Language | 569 | 31.86% |
| Total | 11,869 | 2.63% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,608 | 32.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,072 | 25.70% |
| Asian Language** | 1,391 | 48.21% |
| Other Language | 445 | 35.63% |
| Total | 8,516 | 2.28% |
* "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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