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 | 1,170,891 | 93.48% | 1,131,112 | 93.42% |
| Spanish | 10,689 | 0.85% | 15,708 | 1.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 58,970 | 4.71% | 46,052 | 3.80% |
| Asian Language** | 7,327 | 0.58% | 12,797 | 1.06% |
| Other | 4,640 | 0.37% | 5,051 | 0.42% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,252,517 | 100.00% | 1,210,720 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,802 | 30.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,008 | 28.25% |
| Asian Language** | 5,546 | 43.34% |
| Other Language | 1,223 | 24.21% |
| Total | 24,579 | 2.03% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,152 | 29.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,271 | 27.59% |
| Asian Language** | 3,288 | 44.88% |
| Other Language | 1,240 | 26.72% |
| Total | 23,951 | 1.91% |
* "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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