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 | 1,111,231 | 84.95% | 1,093,227 | 79.58% |
| Spanish | 35,423 | 2.71% | 59,160 | 4.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 121,900 | 9.32% | 147,994 | 10.77% |
| Asian Language** | 32,741 | 2.50% | 61,304 | 4.46% |
| Other | 6,749 | 0.52% | 12,073 | 0.88% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,308,044 | 100.00% | 1,373,758 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 24,402 | 41.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 54,165 | 36.60% |
| Asian Language** | 28,374 | 46.28% |
| Other Language | 2,759 | 22.85% |
| Total | 109,700 | 7.99% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,675 | 44.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 40,999 | 33.63% |
| Asian Language** | 17,463 | 53.34% |
| Other Language | 1,432 | 21.22% |
| Total | 75,569 | 5.78% |
* "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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