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 | 551,010 | 76.14% | 517,923 | 70.32% |
| Spanish | 78,604 | 10.86% | 108,723 | 14.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75,354 | 10.41% | 79,843 | 10.84% |
| Asian Language** | 12,782 | 1.77% | 17,702 | 2.40% |
| Other | 5,941 | 0.82% | 12,345 | 1.68% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 723,691 | 100.00% | 736,536 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 52,993 | 48.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36,223 | 45.37% |
| Asian Language** | 6,620 | 37.40% |
| Other Language | 2,426 | 19.65% |
| Total | 98,262 | 13.34% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 40,137 | 51.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 34,641 | 45.97% |
| Asian Language** | 5,447 | 42.61% |
| Other Language | 1,451 | 24.42% |
| Total | 81,676 | 11.29% |
* "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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