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 | 542,725 | 86.40% | 622,997 | 74.58% |
| Spanish | 56,646 | 9.02% | 144,579 | 17.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,038 | 3.03% | 45,145 | 5.40% |
| Asian Language** | 7,579 | 1.21% | 17,449 | 2.09% |
| Other | 2,172 | 0.35% | 5,117 | 0.61% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 628,160 | 100.00% | 835,287 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 59,817 | 41.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,092 | 37.86% |
| Asian Language** | 8,731 | 50.04% |
| Other Language | 1,629 | 31.84% |
| Total | 87,269 | 10.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 23,973 | 42.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,895 | 30.96% |
| Asian Language** | 3,663 | 48.33% |
| Other Language | 575 | 26.47% |
| Total | 34,106 | 5.43% |
* "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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