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 | 999,119 | 82.68% | 959,465 | 76.84% |
| Spanish | 63,699 | 5.27% | 115,039 | 9.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 113,647 | 9.40% | 124,652 | 9.98% |
| Asian Language** | 22,627 | 1.87% | 36,354 | 2.91% |
| Other | 9,315 | 0.77% | 13,166 | 1.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,208,407 | 100.00% | 1,248,676 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 57,053 | 49.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36,705 | 29.45% |
| Asian Language** | 15,519 | 42.69% |
| Other Language | 2,633 | 20.00% |
| Total | 111,910 | 8.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 30,217 | 47.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 34,820 | 30.64% |
| Asian Language** | 10,528 | 46.53% |
| Other Language | 2,414 | 25.92% |
| Total | 77,979 | 6.45% |
* "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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