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 | 510,660 | 96.04% | 497,979 | 95.37% |
| Spanish | 6,293 | 1.18% | 8,567 | 1.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,852 | 1.85% | 9,014 | 1.73% |
| Asian Language** | 3,453 | 0.65% | 4,551 | 0.87% |
| Other | 1,438 | 0.27% | 2,069 | 0.40% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 531,696 | 100.00% | 522,180 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,865 | 33.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,426 | 26.91% |
| Asian Language** | 2,252 | 49.48% |
| Other Language | 667 | 32.24% |
| Total | 8,210 | 1.57% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,975 | 31.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,494 | 25.31% |
| Asian Language** | 1,644 | 47.61% |
| Other Language | 365 | 25.38% |
| Total | 6,478 | 1.22% |
* "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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