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 | 363,149 | 77.16% | 395,282 | 78.93% |
| Spanish | 8,113 | 1.72% | 14,244 | 2.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 95,794 | 20.35% | 84,820 | 16.94% |
| Asian Language** | 2,376 | 0.50% | 4,663 | 0.93% |
| Other | 1,210 | 0.26% | 1,797 | 0.36% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 470,642 | 100.00% | 500,806 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,496 | 45.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 33,275 | 39.23% |
| Asian Language** | 2,349 | 50.38% |
| Other Language | 441 | 24.54% |
| Total | 42,561 | 8.50% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,045 | 49.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 39,252 | 40.98% |
| Asian Language** | 1,324 | 55.72% |
| Other Language | 367 | 30.33% |
| Total | 44,988 | 9.56% |
* "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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