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 | 572,580 | 87.19% | 595,964 | 85.00% |
| Spanish | 26,346 | 4.01% | 42,732 | 6.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 46,811 | 7.13% | 42,780 | 6.10% |
| Asian Language** | 7,039 | 1.07% | 13,472 | 1.92% |
| Other | 3,920 | 0.60% | 6,209 | 0.89% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 656,696 | 100.00% | 701,157 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 19,013 | 44.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,925 | 32.55% |
| Asian Language** | 7,345 | 54.52% |
| Other Language | 1,593 | 25.66% |
| Total | 41,876 | 5.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,503 | 47.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,814 | 29.51% |
| Asian Language** | 3,669 | 52.12% |
| Other Language | 1,264 | 32.24% |
| Total | 31,250 | 4.76% |
* "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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