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 | 1,173,985 | 89.48% | 1,158,729 | 88.92% |
| Spanish | 29,309 | 2.23% | 41,288 | 3.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 83,100 | 6.33% | 72,365 | 5.55% |
| Asian Language** | 10,010 | 0.76% | 14,776 | 1.13% |
| Other | 15,592 | 1.19% | 15,908 | 1.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,311,996 | 100.00% | 1,303,066 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,780 | 38.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27,953 | 38.63% |
| Asian Language** | 7,383 | 49.97% |
| Other Language | 4,802 | 30.19% |
| Total | 55,918 | 4.29% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,669 | 39.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29,692 | 35.73% |
| Asian Language** | 5,015 | 50.10% |
| Other Language | 5,068 | 32.50% |
| Total | 51,444 | 3.92% |
* "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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