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 | 1,074,298 | 87.41% | 1,094,244 | 82.94% |
| Spanish | 62,919 | 5.12% | 115,677 | 8.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75,666 | 6.16% | 83,773 | 6.35% |
| Asian Language** | 12,147 | 0.99% | 19,981 | 1.51% |
| Other | 4,060 | 0.33% | 5,702 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,229,090 | 100.00% | 1,319,377 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 53,958 | 46.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24,414 | 29.14% |
| Asian Language** | 8,679 | 43.44% |
| Other Language | 1,389 | 24.36% |
| Total | 88,440 | 6.70% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 25,711 | 40.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,996 | 29.07% |
| Asian Language** | 5,839 | 48.07% |
| Other Language | 1,077 | 26.53% |
| Total | 54,623 | 4.44% |
* "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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