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 | 588,224 | 85.84% | 942,435 | 74.04% |
| Spanish | 57,058 | 8.33% | 230,951 | 18.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,499 | 2.85% | 35,134 | 2.76% |
| Asian Language** | 17,313 | 2.53% | 55,663 | 4.37% |
| Other | 3,200 | 0.47% | 8,689 | 0.68% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 685,294 | 100.00% | 1,272,872 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 127,342 | 55.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,367 | 26.66% |
| Asian Language** | 23,723 | 42.62% |
| Other Language | 2,923 | 33.64% |
| Total | 163,355 | 12.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 27,796 | 48.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,635 | 23.77% |
| Asian Language** | 8,872 | 51.24% |
| Other Language | 1,107 | 34.59% |
| Total | 42,410 | 6.19% |
* "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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