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 | 917,961 | 91.28% | 973,064 | 87.33% |
| Spanish | 12,926 | 1.29% | 22,789 | 2.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 43,970 | 4.37% | 58,965 | 5.29% |
| Asian Language** | 13,429 | 1.34% | 28,937 | 2.60% |
| Other | 17,409 | 1.73% | 30,473 | 2.73% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,005,695 | 100.00% | 1,114,228 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,469 | 37.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,397 | 31.20% |
| Asian Language** | 12,346 | 42.67% |
| Other Language | 11,250 | 36.92% |
| Total | 50,462 | 4.53% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,041 | 31.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,307 | 27.99% |
| Asian Language** | 6,468 | 48.16% |
| Other Language | 6,404 | 36.79% |
| Total | 29,220 | 2.91% |
* "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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