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 | 467,497 | 93.26% | 510,814 | 91.33% |
| Spanish | 8,145 | 1.62% | 12,857 | 2.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20,569 | 4.10% | 26,751 | 4.78% |
| Asian Language** | 3,783 | 0.75% | 7,153 | 1.28% |
| Other | 1,294 | 0.26% | 1,733 | 0.31% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 501,288 | 100.00% | 559,308 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,706 | 36.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,814 | 32.95% |
| Asian Language** | 3,103 | 43.38% |
| Other Language | 503 | 29.02% |
| Total | 17,126 | 3.06% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,776 | 34.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,095 | 29.63% |
| Asian Language** | 1,829 | 48.35% |
| Other Language | 316 | 24.42% |
| Total | 11,016 | 2.20% |
* "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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