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 | 776,931 | 82.97% | 788,560 | 80.04% |
| Spanish | 35,492 | 3.79% | 79,443 | 8.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 107,878 | 11.52% | 91,449 | 9.28% |
| Asian Language** | 12,756 | 1.36% | 19,926 | 2.02% |
| Other | 3,366 | 0.36% | 5,806 | 0.59% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 936,423 | 100.00% | 985,184 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 40,403 | 50.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31,517 | 34.46% |
| Asian Language** | 9,991 | 50.14% |
| Other Language | 1,713 | 29.50% |
| Total | 83,624 | 8.49% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 19,789 | 55.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 38,031 | 35.25% |
| Asian Language** | 7,182 | 56.30% |
| Other Language | 925 | 27.48% |
| Total | 65,927 | 7.04% |
* "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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