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 | 1,280,240 | 60.26% | 1,217,121 | 53.26% |
| Spanish | 382,469 | 18.00% | 411,346 | 18.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 333,391 | 15.69% | 456,601 | 19.98% |
| Asian Language** | 79,523 | 3.74% | 133,776 | 5.85% |
| Other | 48,991 | 2.31% | 66,379 | 2.90% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,124,614 | 100.00% | 2,285,223 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 197,017 | 47.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 233,245 | 51.08% |
| Asian Language** | 93,649 | 70.00% |
| Other Language | 23,152 | 34.88% |
| Total | 547,063 | 23.94% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 180,508 | 47.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 156,545 | 46.96% |
| Asian Language** | 55,878 | 70.27% |
| Other Language | 17,407 | 35.53% |
| Total | 410,338 | 19.31% |
* "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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