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 | 242,279 | 85.94% | 257,919 | 81.77% |
| Spanish | 16,127 | 5.72% | 29,062 | 9.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20,172 | 7.16% | 24,230 | 7.68% |
| Asian Language** | 1,999 | 0.71% | 2,744 | 0.87% |
| Other | 1,330 | 0.47% | 1,474 | 0.47% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 281,907 | 100.00% | 315,429 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,363 | 39.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,130 | 50.06% |
| Asian Language** | 1,170 | 42.64% |
| Other Language | 582 | 39.48% |
| Total | 25,245 | 8.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,734 | 41.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,011 | 39.71% |
| Asian Language** | 891 | 44.57% |
| Other Language | 416 | 31.28% |
| Total | 16,052 | 5.69% |
* "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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