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 | 454,174 | 94.80% | 478,613 | 94.40% |
| Spanish | 4,580 | 0.96% | 6,290 | 1.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,837 | 3.10% | 14,113 | 2.78% |
| Asian Language** | 3,058 | 0.64% | 4,947 | 0.98% |
| Other | 2,453 | 0.51% | 3,024 | 0.60% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 479,102 | 100.00% | 506,987 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,862 | 29.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,176 | 29.59% |
| Asian Language** | 2,357 | 47.65% |
| Other Language | 827 | 27.35% |
| Total | 9,222 | 1.82% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,321 | 28.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,631 | 31.21% |
| Asian Language** | 1,723 | 56.34% |
| Other Language | 898 | 36.61% |
| Total | 8,573 | 1.79% |
* "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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