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 | 882,213 | 95.39% | 891,645 | 93.62% |
| Spanish | 10,452 | 1.13% | 16,758 | 1.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,216 | 2.29% | 26,247 | 2.76% |
| Asian Language** | 8,317 | 0.90% | 13,634 | 1.43% |
| Other | 2,620 | 0.28% | 4,174 | 0.44% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 924,818 | 100.00% | 952,458 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,004 | 35.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,833 | 29.84% |
| Asian Language** | 6,249 | 45.83% |
| Other Language | 1,043 | 24.99% |
| Total | 21,129 | 2.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,459 | 33.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,996 | 28.26% |
| Asian Language** | 3,648 | 43.86% |
| Other Language | 720 | 27.48% |
| Total | 13,823 | 1.49% |
* "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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