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 | 867,708 | 93.63% | 1,084,914 | 90.65% |
| Spanish | 37,081 | 4.00% | 80,241 | 6.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,742 | 1.37% | 19,460 | 1.63% |
| Asian Language** | 5,059 | 0.55% | 8,105 | 0.68% |
| Other | 4,113 | 0.44% | 4,073 | 0.34% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 926,703 | 100.00% | 1,196,793 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 36,459 | 45.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,461 | 28.06% |
| Asian Language** | 3,553 | 43.84% |
| Other Language | 1,066 | 26.17% |
| Total | 46,539 | 3.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,410 | 41.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,317 | 26.03% |
| Asian Language** | 2,287 | 45.21% |
| Other Language | 1,282 | 31.17% |
| Total | 22,296 | 2.41% |
* "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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