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 | 470,544 | 76.19% | 572,101 | 72.52% |
| Spanish | 117,872 | 19.08% | 179,591 | 22.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,817 | 2.08% | 16,854 | 2.14% |
| Asian Language** | 7,160 | 1.16% | 11,101 | 1.41% |
| Other | 9,239 | 1.50% | 9,221 | 1.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 617,632 | 100.00% | 788,868 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 65,097 | 36.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,714 | 22.04% |
| Asian Language** | 5,640 | 50.81% |
| Other Language | 3,355 | 36.38% |
| Total | 77,806 | 9.86% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 42,000 | 35.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,960 | 23.09% |
| Asian Language** | 3,719 | 51.94% |
| Other Language | 3,942 | 42.67% |
| Total | 52,621 | 8.52% |
* "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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